There is much comment and debate at present about the actions and spending of state-owned banks but should our attention now turn to the councils who are selling off their property assets to balance their books?

Maybe this view seems a little unfair when in reality the councils are just responding to funding cuts (which they can’t control) and following the trends of the private sector. However, the difference is that they are playing the game at the tax payers’ expense.

The government’s deficit reduction programme will affect all councils and spending and efficiency reviews will need to take place. But are the plans to sell off town hall stock to developers for the purposes of hotel builds a reasonable solution? I fear not.

To demonstrate, I liken the proposed asset sell-off to the typical redundancy programme. The management will identify those individuals (or assets as we could call them) who are performing below par and shed them in order to protect the firms rising stars, big fee earners and their “prized” assets. Such a strategy ensures a sustainable business model and potentially a more successful organisation coming out of the other side of a financial decline.

The review of real estate is no different but while I am sure there are numerous properties that could be sold off, the selling of building stock on such a massive scale in the public sector is an ill-fated and short-term solution that does not provide a sustainable future.

With careful management, identification of exact business requirements and review of the processes used to meet them I believe the effects of the deficit reduction programme can be mitigated while protecting the tax payers’ valuable real estate assets.

Steve Henigan, Robinson Low Francis

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