£700k emergency works plan after building collapse

The building in Kirkgate collapsed in April

A council could spend up to £700,000 on emergency repair works following the collapse of a city centre building.

Leeds City Council is planning to serve an urgent works notice on the owner of dilapidated buildings on Kirkgate, which caved in on 12 April.

The notice would give the council the authority to carry out structural repairs on the buildings, and recover the costs if the company failed to carry out the work.

The local authority said it was keen to press ahead with the regeneration work as the ongoing road closure was having a negative impact on the area.

The council said it had asked City Fusion Ltd, which owns numbers 84 and 85, to carry out emergency structural works to prevent further collapses, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The company was also asked to carry out similar works on numbers 86 and 87 - which were hit by fire in 2023 - and numbers 88, 89 and 91.

The council said City Fusion Ltd had "so far declined to do the requested work”.

It means the council now intends to use statutory powers to serve an urgent works notice, which requires permission from the secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

A council report said up to £700,000 in capital funding would be allocated to carry out the works, which the authority would seek to recover from the owners.

The report said several buildings on lower Kirkgate had not received regular maintenance for decades, including the First White Cloth Hall which was partially demolished in 2011 after number 101 collapsed.

City Fusion Ltd has been approached for comment.

Kirkgate, which means Church Street in Old Norse, has medieval origins.

According to the council, it is thought to feature the most complete run of 18th-Century properties in Leeds city centre.

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