Norwich City Council could sell off six secret sites

Norwich City Council's Labour-controlled cabinet will meet on Wednesday to discuss the future of the City Hall-owned sites - but is not revealing where they are.

The council says the sites must remain under wraps due to commercial confidentiality, but that selling them could swell the authority's coffers by £32.74m.

The sites have been identified after the council enlisted property specialists Bidwells to draw up a report into the land and property owned by City Hall - and its potential for development or sale.

Fifteen sites were initially looked at and six of them identified as priorities, with the potential for between 978 and 1347 new homes to be built.

The council could look to develop some sites for housing through Lion Homes - the company it owns which is building homes at Three Score in Bowthorpe.

An artist's impression of homes being built in Three Score at Bowthorpe (Image: Lion Homes)

But it could also sell off some of the sites to other housing developers on the open market, while one could be let for light industrial use.

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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, deliver much needed and for 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."

Earlier this year, the council revealed it needs to make £9.5m savings over the next five years.