The deputy council leader has denied that publicly owned buildings in Bristol will be sold off in a “fire sale” to balance the books. Several buildings will however soon be sold, with some due to become social housing, such as a community hall that was recently home to a boxing gym.
Bristol City Council is hoping to raise about £2.1 million from selling off a list of buildings, some of which have been kept secret. But this money will not be used to pay for day-to-day services, known as the revenue budget, and instead will be used to invest in new infrastructure.
Labour previously criticised the plans as a “fire sale”, and voted against some of the properties being sold off during a meeting of the strategy and resources policy committee on Monday, December 16. But Green Councillor Heather Mack, deputy council leader, defended the move.
Cllr Mack said: “It’s very emotive when we’re talking about removing assets from our estate in whatever way, and there can also be quite a lot of misunderstanding about it. We need to consider when properties are bringing in significant income or supporting our services, and obviously that’s a crucial part of it and we’re looking at how these properties are being used.
“But when they don’t do that and they’re costing us money, there’s obviously going to be times when it’s sensible to not have them. We are getting money back in return for properties and that helps us do all sorts of things, such as purchasing housing.
“I’ve heard ‘fire sale’ and ‘are we just getting rid of things because of our tight budget’. But we can’t just sell assets in order to balance the books. That’s not what we’re doing. Capital receipts must be used in a capital manner, not just balancing our revenue budget. It’s not something that we want to be doing, but we consider it very carefully.”
Before the council considers selling any buildings, different departments have the opportunity to bid on them instead, so they can be turned into new council housing, for example. Councillors asked several questions about the plan to sell buildings, but the committee went into an “exempt session”, meaning that the public and press were kicked out of the meeting for over 40 minutes.
Green Cllr Tony Dyer, leader of the council, thanked the committee “for the in-depth conversation in the exempt session”. He added: “I realise it can be annoying for members of the public, but sometimes it is necessary.” It’s not known what topics the conversation covered.
Three properties will likely be sold to housing associations: the Summerhill Centre, the Jubilee Hall and the East Bristol Intermediate Care Centre. The Jubilee Hall, in Bedminster, was formerly home to a popular boxing club, and was built by the community in the 1930s specifically for local young people in the community.
The hall will be renovated and turned into supported accommodation for people with special needs. The East Bristol Intermediate Care Centre, in St George, was the council’s last remaining rehab centre for older patients needing care after leaving hospital, and closed last year.
Two properties will be sold at auction: Delaware House in Stockwood and Nelson Parade in Bedminster. The Nelson Parade building, just down the road from Asda, has been blocking off a bus lane and pavement for many years, while the council tried and failed to convert it into flats for homeless people.
Delaware House is a single-storey office building, in a residential area. Two properties owned by the council could also be sold, however their details were kept secret. Cllr Dyer said they were “subject to commercial confidentiality”.
The council is one of the largest landowners in Bristol, but councils across the country have shrunk in size since 2010 and now offer fewer public services than they used to. Likewise, Bristol and other councils are facing serious financial challenges, and selling off redundant properties raises millions of pounds. However it’s hard to tell if this represents a fair return for the taxpayer.