Bradford Council's umbrella-in-ceiling house sells for £83k
An empty house with an umbrella hanging from the ceiling of one of its rooms was among a number of properties to have been successfully sold at auction by a cash-strapped council.As part of its sell-off programme to make extra funds to balance its books, six Bradford Council-owned assets went under the hammer earlier this week.Four of them - including the empty house and an office building - sold for a total of more than £600,000, however two of the lots - a 14-acre plot of land and a parade of commercial premises - failed to sell.The authority has said it planned to sell off at least 150 assets in the next few years in an effort to raise about £100m.
The empty house with the umbrella hanging from its ceiling, located near Peel Park, had a guide price of £45,000, but ended up selling for £83,000 at the Pugh Property Auction on Tuesday.Meanwhile, the Salts Wharf office building, on Ashley Lane in Shipley, which had a guide price of £150,000, eventually sold for more than double that at £358,000.Also successfully sold was a semi-detached property on Stephen Crescent, which had a guide price of £130,000 but sold for £140,000.Finally, land on Hainworth Road in Keighley, described as being "predominantly grassland and tree cover" and which had a guide price of £15,000, eventually sold for £30,250.Details of the successful buyers were not disclosed by Bradford Council.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, one of the lots that failed to sell was land on Exmouth Place, off Bolton Road, which was allocated as a future housing site where up to 75 homes could be built.Described as "a greenfield site in a sustainable location within the urban area", it had a guide price of £225,000 but did not attract a buyer.The other lot which did not sell was a series of properties on North Street and Bow Street in Keighley currently occupied by commercial tenants.The parade of properties was said to generate an annual rent of £53,000 and had been given a guide price of £485,000, but went unsold.As part of a request to the government last year for "exceptional financial support", Bradford Council was given permission to use money from the sale of assets to fund council services.Councils can normally only use money from such sales for capital projects, such as new developments.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Council withholds £110k over Gateshead Sage car park dispute
A council is withholding £110,000 of the cost of a car park over claims it is not "fit for use". The £23m car park was built by Gateshead Council as part of its long-delayed redevelopment scheme along the River was completed in January 2023 but remains shut to the public, in part due to a dispute between the developers and the local authority. Gateshead Council said it was confident the car park will open in the autumn. Developers Willmott Dixon have been approached for comment. As part of major redevelopment plans, an events arena is slated to be built on land between the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and the Glasshouse concert hall. The Sage complex was originally due to open last year but construction has yet to start and the estimated cost has risen by £90m to more than £ 1,003-space car park was built as part of the redevelopment leader Martin Gannon previously said the car park was not "fit for use", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. In response to a freedom of information (FOI) request, Gateshead Council said it had already paid £22.8m to Willmott Dixon for the construction of the car park but was withholding £110,000 due to a dispute. It said this was due to various issues, including the fact that water was ponding in the structure which it said would not occur "under best practice guidance".It said there had been disagreement over who was liable for the "defects", but the developer has now resolved those issues. Plans to make the car park fully operational have been completed and it will open later this year, a spokesperson said. The authority also said the car park was a "key piece of infrastructure" that supports "both the existing and future activity" of the area.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
Green light for battery energy storage system at Ferrybridge site
Plans to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) next to a former power station have been Plant Developments wants to install the facility on greenbelt land off Stranglands Lane, near to the former Ferrybridge C power facilities take in power from renewable energy sources and then release it back to the National Grid when demand is Council gave its backing to the plan, which received no comments of support but only one objection. One Plant Developments said it had chosen the location due to its proximity to the Ferrybridge C substation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting firm said: "There are no residential properties in the immediate vicinity of the application site, and the proposed development is not likely to affect any significant number of people."Given that the proposed BESS will be an unmanned facility, with access required only for occasional maintenance inspections, and there being no public access to the site, there are no particular access issues that require to be addressed."The former Ferrybridge power plant, close to the River Aire, was shut in March 2016 after more than 50 years of energy was once one of the biggest power generators in Europe, with its coal-fired boilers producing enough electricity to power 2m homes. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
South Wales Argus
18 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Questions over council spending on Friars Walk Newport
The local authority negotiated a deal with the owners of Friars Walk in 2017 that would top up income if the centre was not collecting enough rent. Payments in each of the past six financial years have reached the maximum £500,000 – new figures seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show. Cllr Matthew Evans, the leader of the Conservative opposition group, said he was 'absolutely staggered that the council has squandered over £3.56 million of local taxpayers' money on this'. A council spokesperson defended the deal and said the local authority would still benefit overall from the deal, even if the maximum £500,000 was paid out annually over the course of the 15-year deal. The council received £8 million when it signed the deal, and would be liable to pay a maximum of £7.5 million in top-ups, they explained. 'It is important to note that as well as the rental subsidy, the arrangement ensures that the council receives additional rent payments if the centre's profits exceed certain thresholds,' the spokesperson added. But Cllr Evans said the deal to top up low rents involved money which could be better spent on council services. 'Think how many additional social service staff could have been employed, or potholes fixed,' he said. 'I seem to recall when I questioned the decision taken by the cabinet at the time, I was told that it was merely 'an insurance policy' which would never be called on. 'Sadly the public have been picking up the tab for Labour's failure to regenerate the city centre. The reopening of the former Debenhams site is good news, but more needs to be done and fast.' A homeware store is reportedly set to open in part of the former Debenhams premises, which was described as the anchor tenant for the Friars Walk centre. Debenhams' high-street operations ceased in 2021 and the future of the large Newport site has been uncertain until the recent news of an incoming tenant. Michael Enea, a Conservative Party campaigner and political blogger, has urged the council to consider what he called 'huge' business rate charges for larger premises in the city centre. 'The former Debenhams site at £345,000 a year, the old Cineworld complex is £64,500 a year – these are astronomical figures,' he said. 'No wonder vast swathes of businesses have moved to out-of-town retail parks. We need a total review of business rates in Wales whereby it becomes an incentive to trade in our town and city centres. Something has to change.' The local authority spokesperson said Newport City Council is not responsible for setting business rates. 'We do, however, offer support for small and medium-sized city centre businesses through our local city centre rate relief scheme, which offers a discount of 25% on non-domestic rates for qualifying properties,' they explained. 'Very small businesses already receive rate relief through the Welsh Government's small business rate relief scheme. 'The Welsh Government also offers support for larger businesses through its retail, leisure and hospitality relief scheme, which offers a discount of 40 per cent on non- domestic rates, capped at £110,000 per business.'
