New arrangements for agreeing the leasing or selling of Council properties to businesses and community groups have been a great success - with 38 properties leased or sold since January 2018.

Orkney Islands Council agreed in January 2018 under its revised scheme of delegation to delegate powers to the Executive Director of Corporate Services to make operational decisions around the buying, selling, leasing and use and allocation of land and property - removing the need for individual reports to Council committees on these matters – therefore speeding up the process and helping prospective tenants in getting a quicker decision.

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Delegated decisions on these matters have been used 38 times since then, including five decisions taken to sell Council properties or offer them for sale, eight new tenancies and 16 renewed leases of existing tenants.

Leasing decisions taken over this time include the lease of a property to an international renewable energy company, the lease of a yard to a local mental health charity and the lease of office accommodation to support a local charity in relocating.

Reports will be provided quarterly to Elected Members on the decisions that have been taken.

Details on council property currently available for sale or lease is available from Property web pages.