A PIECE of industrial land that was earmarked for up to 1,000 homes has been sold for a whopping £100m.

A debt-ridden Slough Borough Council, which needs to sell up to £600m-worth of assets, has announced it has completed the sale of the former Akzo Nobel site in Wexham Road to help reduce its £760m borrowing debt.

The council bought the north end of the site, which was historically owned by ICI, from international real estate company Panattoni for £38m last year in order to have greater control of delivering social and affordable housing.

Panattoni was granted permission in 2020 to build up to 1,000 homes, 25 per cent of which were affordable, to the north of the site and a data centre to the south.

READ MORE: Slough Council to sell off 1,000 home former Akzo Nobel site

However, a damning report revealed the cash-strapped council had to spend at least £250m to build the new homes and did not have a ‘clear idea’ how to fund this.

The site was sold to the highest bidder who offered payment in excess of £100m, which council leader James Swindlehurst (Lab: Cippenham Green) said was “probably the single biggest beneficial transaction” he’s ever seen as it would make about a quarter of its £369m capitalisation requirement.

The buyer remains confidential but could develop the site into another data centre, subject to planning permission.

Councillor Rob Anderson (Lab: Britwell & Northborough), lead member for financial oversight and council assets, said: “Originally, we bought this site with the vision of creating housing, however despite this original vision not being practical in reality, this site has proven to be a very good investment.

READ MORE: Slough leader boasts former Akzo Nobel sale

“It has been widely reported that we need to sell assets totalling hundreds of millions of pounds; this sale goes a significant way to meeting that target and stabilising the council’s financial position for the future.”

Cllr Swindlehurst added: “Slough is excellently placed due to its location and connectivity and there is an inherent value in land in Slough for both domestic and commercial uses.

“The large-scale profit on the sale of this asset – made in little over a year – reflects the strong growth in demand for sites that can meet data centre, logistics and distribution uses.

“The proceeds from this sale alone will significantly assist the council in its financial recovery.”