By John Baron
A former Armley community centre has sold for £905,000 at auction.
Strawberry Lane Community Centre had originally been given a £360,000 price tag by Leeds City Council, who were looking to sell the building and the land in order to raise money to balance the books.
The site, first built as a school in in 1970s before being used as a college campus, could be redeveloped into housing. Former tenant Armley Helping Hands, which supports older people in parts of LS12, relocated from the building at the end of November.
The authority said the building was in a poor state of repair and a sale would relieved it of maintenance costs.
Auction website BTG Eddisons/Pugh said the centre had a car park and extensive gardens and had marketed the land as a ‘redevelopment opportunity’.
It said: “The property itself is a large, single-storey building comprising meeting, leisure and office space, along with staff areas, kitchens and toilets.”
The new land owner has not yet been announced.
Also listed on the website is the former Abbey Lodge and Depot in Kirkstall, which is part of an online auction running until 25 February. It is priced at £405,000.
As previously reported by WLD, the former Hollybush Children’s Centre, off Broad Lane, Bramley, is being auctioned until 25 February.
The centre has been given a guide price of £200,000 and its details can be found here. It will appear alongside Gipton South Children’s Centre on Coldcotes Grove, which has a guide price of £250,000, in the multi-lot auction held by BTG Eddisons Property Auctions on 24 February.
Will Thompson, director at BTG Eddisons Property Auctions, said: “Both of these Leeds sites offer genuine opportunities for investors or developers. Bramley continues to see strong interest driven by housing demand and regeneration activity, while Gipton is benefiting from ongoing council-led investment and neighbourhood improvement.
“These former children’s centres could lend themselves well to alternative uses, subject to the usual consents. From our work with multiple local authorities and other public sector organisations we are seeing that auction remains a very effective route for councils to bring surplus properties to market, freeing up capital that can then be put back into funding frontline services and supporting local communities.”
WLD reported yesterday how Calverley Library had been sold at auction for £207,000.
A decision on the future of Pudsey Civic Hall has been delayed again. The building was earmarked for potential sale two years ago, and had been taking bookings until March 2026. But delays to the refurbishment of Morley Town Hall have meant a formal decision on the future of the Civic has been postponed and it will take bookings until at least December.
And the sale of Pudsey Town Hall edged closer to reality after a bid to list the building as an asset of community value was rejected by the council last week.
Leeds City Council says it has received a number of credible offers for the building from developers in line with its financial expectations. Pudsey Town Hall CIC, which is looking retain it for community use, says it hasn’t given up in its efforts to take over the building.
Leeds City Council points to underfunding from central Government since 2010 and increasing costs in departments such as adult social care as it struggles to balance its budget.
WLD has featured local and national government budget cuts and building sales in our Cutswatch series, here.
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