Power outage at council HQ shows it may be time to sell

NOTTINGHAM City Council’s headquarters have been reeling from a “once-in-a-lifetime” event. What better time to have a serious look at its future?

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

Loxley House suffered a major power outage and the ramifications are still being felt more than a week on. People had Job Centre appointments cancelled and bulky waste collections were affected.

Aside from some of these short-term impacts though, the whole episode again raises questions about just how efficient it is for the cash-strapped city council to keep hold of Loxley House. It is a question that has been repeatedly raised by the commissioners overseeing the council and, as budget gaps remain for the coming years, it is a question that will not be going away.

The construction of Loxley House began in the early 2000s and Capital One used it as a base until the company put it on the market in 2009.

Despite the initial valuation of £60 million, the city council ended up buying it for £22.5 million and the authority now says the building is worth £27.3 million, as of 2018 figures.