Croydon becomes first casualty of council property binge

摘要

Croydon has become the first casualty in the rush by UK local authorities to rack up huge debts to buy property, with the council issuing a formal notice on Wednesday warning that it was likely to run out of money in the next few months after income from its real estate empire collapsed because of the pandemic. In the summer, the London borough flagged the shortfall to central government, which sent a team to Croydon to identify possible budget cuts. But the council has since concluded that the £10m of cuts identified so far will be insufficient, and that "expenditure continues to significantly exceed resources".