For years, the council has owned six assets situated outside of the borough, which it has used to obtain rental income.
These assets include a retail park in Lincoln, three offices and two warehouses elsewhere in the country.
The council’s Labour-controlled cabinet recently agreed to sell one of these investment properties to secure a lump cash sum.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for the identity of the property, its address, the current tenant, the identity of the purchaser and the income generated from the sale.
But the request has been denied as it would constitute information obtained from another party – namely the purchaser – and represent “a breach of confidence”.
The sale the cabinet agreed was recently discussed at a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny commission.
During questioning, councillor Mike Forster (Liberal Democrats, Sandhurst) said: “We are selling a commercial property, which will therefore mean we have an income loss going forward.
“What is our medium-term strategy for managing our out-of-borough property assets?
“Bearing in mind that they have provided a good source of income in the past.
“What are you going to use the receipts for this particular property sale, and how will the annual income be replaced?”
Cllr Paul Bidwell (Labour, Town Centre & The Parks), cabinet member for economy and regeneration, said: “The use of the receipts of the proceeds from the sale of the property agreed by cabinet on December 16 last year will be used to supplement the revenue budget using our flexible use of capital reserves approach.
“This funding will be focused on funding costs related to transforming our services and working towards cost savings and cost avoidance to enable a balanced budget in the future.
“So how will we replace this income? The revenue income from the assets which are sold would not be replaced as the council is no longer able to purchase or invest in out-of-borough investments.
“The capital receipts can be used for transformational purposes, supporting the ongoing revenue budget.
“Our strategy for some of the assets will be to regularise lease terms with the existing tenants or relet to maintain income streams and improve capital appreciation of the portfolio.”
The exchange took place during discussions about the council’s 2026/27 budget at the meeting on Thursday, January 8.
The FOI was denied on Wednesday, January 14, as the requested information is exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The out-of-borough assets were acquired through the council’s £86.6 million Commercial Property Investment Strategy adopted in 2016.
The assets are the Valentine South Retail Park in Lincoln, the Currys contact centre offices in Sheffield, a warehouse in Stowmarket, Suffolk, an office in Southampton, a warehouse in Redditch and offices in Northampton.