Norwich City Council leaders give green light for land sale

The lucrative deals could raise nearly £33m for cash-strapped Norwich City Council but remain shrouded in mystery, as the exact locations of the sites are under wraps.

The authority's Labour-controlled cabinet voted in favour of pushing forward with the sales at a meeting this week but has delegated the final decision to top council officials. 

Fifteen sites were initially looked at and six of them identified as priorities, with the potential for between 978 and 1,347 new homes to be built.

The council says the locations must remain secret due to commercial confidentiality, but believe the sales could generate £32.74m - no small change for an authority that needs to make £9.5m in savings over the next five years. 

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The future of the six priority sites will now be determined by Emily Yule, executive director of resources at the council. 

However, any housing developments will be subject to usual consultation through the planning process before any work can begin. 

A Norwich City Council spokeswoman said: "Property is a vital resource because we use it as a source of income to support front line services, promote economic growth and regeneration, and deliver much needed infrastructure which allows communities to thrive.

"We regularly review potential council-owned development sites to improve their management, develop a pipeline of potential housing development opportunities, and unlock revenue opportunities.

"Identifying council-owned land that can deliver on our community ambitions to deliver homes and jobs is an essential lever the council has.

"However, it's not possible for the council to deliver all of the development needed by itself.

"Disposing assets enables both delivery of homes and jobs and also provides essential capital receipts, so the council can work towards all its priorities."