Leeds City Council have now been given powers to repair the collapsed historic buildings on Kirkgate. Repairs could start as soon as next month, as the owners “do not intend to carry out repairs”.
City Fusion Ltd were issued notice in December. It then transpired that ownership of five of the collapsed buildings had been transferred to a different company, Kirkgate Land Residential Ltd, which delayed the deadline to respond.
An urgent works notice was then issued by Leeds City Council, requiring repairs to commence by 12 March. Given that repairs have not commenced, Leeds City Council can now take matters into their own hands and reclaim the costs of repairs, estimated to be around £700,000.
Leeds Civic Trust Director Martin Hamilton said
“It is almost a year to the day when these buildings on Kirkgate collapsed. It has been frustrating that it has taken the Department for Media Culture and Sport several months to approve the urgent works notice. The owner bears prime responsibility for allowing these buildings to fall into disrepair in the first place and for frustrating the Council’s efforts to see these buildings brought back into use.
The Urgent Works notice allows the Council to undertake the repair works and to seek to recover costs from the owner. We hope that this work can now commence as quickly as possible before further damage is caused.”
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Image Description: A photograph of the collapsed Kirkgate buildings from 2024, with the words ‘Kirkgate Urgent Works Notice Update’ in white text over a blue background at the bottom. The Leeds Civic Trust 60th anniversary logo is in white in the bottom right corner.
