Council House repairs 'to cost more than £11m'

Repair work to Nottingham's landmark Council House will cost more than £11m, new figures have revealed.

Designed by architect TC Howitt in the 1920s, the Grade II-listed building was opened on 22 May 1929 by King Edward VIII, who was the Prince of Wales at the time.

Nottingham City Council's ruling Labour group had pledged to renovate it ahead of its centenary and has now revealed it will cost £8.65m to repair the leaking roof, on top of nearly £3m for other urgent repairs over the next three years.

Councillors are set to approve the spending plans on 20 October.

The largest civic building in the city, Nottingham Council House features a 200ft dome that houses the famous Little John bell.

It also acts as a forum for debate and decision-making when city councillors meet for full council meetings, houses the county's coroner's court, and is also still the register office for births, marriages, and deaths.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC in 2024 was told repairs were expected to cost £2.8m.

The work forms part of a wider £19m repairs programme to the council's property estate.

A recent survey found the authority would need to spend more than £30m on priority works across its entire operational estate.

Loxley House, the council's headquarters on Station Street, also requires about £6m for urgent repairs, which will be funded under the programme.

Other sums for urgent repairs include £950,000 at St Ann's Valley Centre, £100,000 on flooring at the Royal Concert Hall, £200,000 at Byron House, and £62,000 on the Broad Marsh car park and bus station.

"The proposed three-year capital programme will enable the council to address the most pressing health and safety and condition-related issues first, while also undertaking targeted preventative works that reduce the risk of more extensive and costly failures later," the council said.

"This supports a planned, risk-based approach to protecting the operational estate and maintaining service continuity."

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