Hammersmith and Fulham Council Property Sell Off

Controversial plans to sell off public buildings to the highest bidders were announced by Hammersmith and Fulham Council last week, while many of the voluntary groups inside them face severe funding cuts, reports the Fulham Chronicle.

Outsourcing of services and the merging of departments with other authorities are ideas which have been pioneered here, and last week the council announced its latest plan - to raise £20 million by selling off some of the most significant buildings in its property portfolio.

A consultation on the sale of buildings will run over the summer before any formal decisions are made, but a spokeswoman said the council is 'unabashed' about marketing its properties to attract the highest bidders, and unconcerned about them being retained for public or community use.

Several other potentially lucrative buildings are already on the market, including High Master's House in Hammersmith Road, and work to shrink council services and staff into fewer sites will continue.

The authority has already raised £42 million by selling buildings, reducing its use of space by 40 per cent, and it says it is asking voluntary groups to do the same, squeezing into two new community hubs planned – but not yet built – in the Edward Woods Estate to the north, and on the New Deal for Communities site in Dawes Road, Fulham.