"Harder for a council to take on multiple corporates than a single one?"
it's not always the Councils- the shareholders and the finance types at the companies all look at the bottom line and then at how much they can get RIGHT NOW if the sell for development - bit a of a no brainer TBH from a financial view. And the Councils are under pressure from voters and the Govt to find more land for housing.....................
It would be interesting to know what you could sell LHR for ..................