Selling off assets such as Land Registry 'will leave government worse off'

Report finds planned privatisation of agency and other assets would deprive British public of future income

Selling off UK public assets such as the Land Registry will leave the government's finances worse off in the long term as cash from the sale is outstripped by future profits, a new report warns.

Before a consultation closing later this week on the Land Registry's planned privatisation, a leading economic thinktank said the benefits to the exchequer from a one-off sale of the agency would pale in comparison to the income sacrificed in future years.