Council raises more than £22m from property sales

Bradford Council has made more than £22m from selling off properties and land it owns in recent years, new figures have revealed.

The cash-strapped authority has sold a former village hall, outdoor activity centre and car parks, among other sites, in an effort to balance its books and stave off bankruptcy.

However, the sum so far has left it well short of the £150m target it aims to reach.

Earlier this year the council was given exceptional financial support by the government, which allowed it to use cash generated from property sales to fund day-to-day services such as social care and bin collections.

Councils are normally prohibited from doing so.

The council published a breakdown of properties sold, alongside the money generated by some of the sales, following a request from opposition Liberal Democrat councillor Alun Griffiths, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The former Rhodesway Pool, which was sold for £500,000, Hammerton Filling Station, which brought in £93,000 and a pay-and-display car park in Little Germany, which went for £322,000, are among the assets the council has sold.

Ingleborough Hall – a former children's outdoor activity centre in Clapham - was also sold in August for a sum yet to be disclosed.

Last week the council said Bingley Pool was another asset which would be put on the market, while two car parks either side of Pine Street in Little Germany are due to be auctioned off next month.

Bradford Council increased council tax by nearly 10% earlier this year, after it was granted permission to do so from the government.

The authority also approved cuts worth £42m in an attempt to balance the books.

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