Kirklees Council is set to seek compulsory purchase orders to ensure the £16 million re-development of a block of flats in Huddersfield town centre can go ahead.

Buxton House, between New Street and Albion Street, needs extensive refurbishment as the building fails to meet fire safety requirements introduced after the Grenfell Tower disaster in London.

The 1960s building, which also includes a shopping precinct, pedestrian underpass and the Albion Street rooftop car park, had a complex mix of leases, ownerships and access rights.

The council owned the freehold but granted a 175-year lease to a company called ALB Kirklees Ltd in 2012, which it has now acquired.

It has also bought the commercial units below the tower and also the car park. The council needed the car park as it would have to be closed and used as a works compound during the two-year construction.

 

 

The council has been moving tenants out of the 57 flats – more than half have gone – but three of flats had been sold under the Right to Buy scheme and were in private ownership.

One of the owners is holding out and the council has submitted a “best and final offer” but the owner has not responded.

Council officers are now asking Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday November 5 to approve going for compulsory purchase orders if no agreement can be reached.

The council will also have to negotiate with individual leaseholders of the shops who all have rights of access to load and unload goods from the car park. Compensation may have to be paid.

A report to Cabinet says that 33 of the 57 flats are now vacant and the council wants all tenants out by January 2025. If any tenants refuse to move having been offered suitable alternative accommodation, the council has the power to evict them.

Planning permission to re-model the tower block to create 19 two-bedroomed, 22 one-bedroomed and five studio flats was approved in July 2024.

The council wants to start the build in November 2025 with completion due in October 2027 and is conscious that the longer it takes, the more it’s likely to cost.

The council is already paying for costly 24-hour ‘fire watch’ surveillance to protect the people who still live there.

 

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