Peterborough City Council sold tens of millions of pounds worth of assets in the past nine years in order to repay debt.
Results from a Freedom of Information request received in December 2024, recently shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, revealed that £49,663,112.90 of council assets were sold since July 2016.
A spokesperson for the council said that money received as a result of asset sales is used to "repay its debt balances, therefore reducing the cost of borrowing (interest)".
They added: "In addition, these receipts are classed as capital (being asset disposals) and therefore cannot be used to fund the revenue expenditure (day to day services)."
Peterborough City Council provided a list of the ten highest asset sales since July 2016, but did not confirm who they were sold to and for how much due to commercial sensitivities.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has included prices of each sale where it was publicly available.
1. Peterborough City Council asset sales
Peterborough United Football Stadium, including the Allia Future Business Centre and surrounding car parking In 2021, Peterborough City Council sold Peterborough United's football stadium, including the Allia Future Business Centre and surrounding car parking, back to the club. The city council bought the Peterborough United ground and its surrounding land back in 2010 for £8.4 million. Peterborough United said that the council sold the ground back for just over £6 million, minus a £1.25 million discount given to the club in recognition of its "economic and social benefit" to the city and "£2.8 million investment in the Allia Business Centre". Photo: Google
2. Peterborough City Council asset sales
It was revealed in Autumn 2024 that Peterborough City Council were looking to sell the Newborough Rural Estate which is a mixture of tenanted and vacant farm land. The 1,200-acre site was listed on Savills at a guide price of £9 million. At the time, the council said it had been in the process of negotiating sales of its rural estate for the past two years, following a review of its finances carried out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Photo: Google
3. Peterborough City Council asset sales
Peterborough City Council sold land at Northminster in 2022 to enable the development of 315 affordable Build to Rent homes on the site. Peterborough based housing association Cross Keys Homes became the new owner of the site and ensured the delivery of the homes. At the time, reports stated that the site had been given a £1.5 million price tag by Peterborough City Council valuers, but this number increased to £4.1 million after a review of the council’s commercial assets by government backed financial experts. Photo: PT
4. Peterborough City Council asset sales
Details of the sales of Eardley Grange Farm and Hill Farm could not be found on Land Registry or other public records. Photo: Google