Woking’s towers: the high-rise symbol of local council debt

theguardian.com:

A cluster of skyscrapers that look more Singapore than Surrey rises high over the centre of Woking. Called Victoria Square, the trio of towers – the biggest is 34 storeys – is unusual for a brand new landmark development in that backing for them didn’t come from a Gulf state, Chinese investors or a global asset manager. Instead, the proud owner of Britain’s tallest buildings outside of a major city is Woking borough council.

The towers are the pinnacle of a near-£2bn debt-fuelled investment programme that has split local opinion, been repeated by councils across the country, and set alarm bells ringing in national government.

Not all the council’s projects have been as successful. It offered one company £250m to redevelop the town’s football stadium and build 1,000 homes, but the scheme ran into the buffers after planners said it was suitable for just 93 dwellings.

“It’s gone absolutely ridiculous,” says Graham Chrystie, a councillor who in 2019 defected from the ruling Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats over borrowing levels, tipping the council into no overall control. Now retired, he worries that the debt pile could prove unsustainable. “The borough seems to have turned into a property developer – from £5m schemes in central Woking to ones worth £500m. We are in a pretty desperate situation.”

With Woking’s debt expected to grow to £2.4bn within five years – the highest borrowing figure, relative to its size, of any local authority in Britain – the town, population just over 100,000, was placed on a government watch list in May.

Local councils have been on a borrowing and investment spree in an attempt to sidestep the impact of austerity. With government-backed spending power slashed by more than 50%, significantly