Swindon Borough Council has agreed to sell commercial properties it owns in the hope of generating £21m.
The local authority said it was in a ‘challenging’ position with a £9.1m overspend forecast this year.
Its cabinet approved selling the assets after officers advised that the capital receipts could be used to offset short-term borrowing debts and fund local projects.
Because the properties are leased to business tenants, £1.4m in annual rental income would be lost when the assets are sold, a council report says.
In order to make up for the lost rental income, the report recommends that £11m of the receipts from the sales is used replace borrowing for short-life assets, saving £1.7m a year in debt charges.
A list of the assets to be sold has not been made public.
Swindon will now appoint commercial property agents to market and negotiate the sales.
