Community centre sold to help fill budget gap

A vacant community centre is up for auction after being deemed surplus to requirements by Leeds City Council.

The Allerton Bywater Community Centre on Leeds Road will be auctioned to raise cash for the authority, which is facing a multi-million pound budget gap next year.

A council report said it first decided to sell the centre in 2020 due to under-use and rising running costs.

It said: "The disposal of the property will result in a capital receipt for the council as well as absolving the council of any retention and maintenance costs."

An auctioneer would be appointed to set a guide price for the property with the sale planned for the next financial year.

Other means of selling the asset were deemed unsuitable because auction could fetch a higher price for the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The report said: "Contracts will be exchanged immediately on fall of the hammer and completion will be on an unconditional basis within a short defined timescale.

"This should result in a swift sale at a price which meets the council's obligation to realise best consideration."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.