Details of council's building purchase revealed

Sheffield City Council is set to pay more than £636,000 for a building which is adjacent to a planned major development.

Details of the sale of 517 Manchester Road, in Stocksbridge, were contained in an agenda for the council's finance committee and should have not been published.

Stocksbridge was awarded £24.1m of government funding to revitalise the high street with a new library and community hub.

The funds are managed by a Towns Fund Board, but it is not yet able to purchase property and the building's owner has said it must be sold by the end of June, so the city council is stepping in to purchase it.

Further details included in the report state that the "acquisition price" for the property was £610,000 plus VAT and was "negotiated and agreed with the owner".

The report states the authority will be able to recover the VAT, but other charges will increase the price.

"Stamp duty and land tax payable will be £26,100 bringing the total acquisition cost to £636,100."

The report also notes the agreed purchase price is "£46,700 above the council's estimated total valuation of the property, including compensation that would likely be payable under a compulsory purchase scenario".

Stocksbridge Towns Fund Board, which is rolling out the development, had planned to buy the building directly to refurbish it.

However, it needs to establish charity status to legally purchase property which has not yet been approved by the Charity Commission.

The report to the authority said: "Unfortunately, the owner of the property has advised the board that if the property is not purchased by the end of June 2026, it will be taken off the market, and they will investigate redeveloping the site for residential."

It said in order for the "opportunity" to acquire the empty building not to be lost, the board had requested the council make the purchase to allow time for the "new charity to be established".

Officers said that buying the property was justified to help the broader regeneration of the site, bring an empty property back into economic use and support the vitality of the high street.

The council will purchase and hold on to the property for six months to give the board the chance to buy it.

The purchase will be discussed by councillors at a meeting on 22 June.

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