Council House to become flats

NUNEATON’S Council House has finally been sold – and is set to be converted into flats.

After more than a year on the market, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has struck a deal to sell the former council house.

As contracts have not officially been exchanged, information on who it has been sold to and for how much has to remain confidential.

However, it has been confirmed that the building, which sits next to the Town Hall and was once home to scores of employees, will be converted into residential apartments.

A spokesperson for the borough council said: “At this stage we have received an acceptable offer and will progress the sale.

“The intention would be to convert the council house into residential apartments but until we exchange contractors we can’t say anything more.”

Les Snowden, the head of estates and emergency planning at the borough council, was officially given permission, under delegated authority by an officer, to forge ahead with the sale on Wednesday, September 6.

But at the time of going to press, no further information about the deal was available.

What is known is that the sale, once it has gone through, will bring to an end a saga that has run for more than year.

It was in the summer of 2015 that the council revealed that it planned to either sell off or rent the building but it was not put on the market until the start of last year.

Staff were moved out of the building, with some relocating to the Town Hall while others were asked to ‘hot desk’ so that the building could be sold.

From day one, the authority has said that the decision to no longer use the Council House was not only to raise some much-needed revenue, but to also implement more agile working and make full use of the space in the Town Hall.