Bedford council surrenders £200k-a-year lease on empty building

The Conservative administration claims this lease was a “textbook case of political incompetence” by the former council leaders.

But the Lib Dems said it’s the mayor’s “dithering that has cost taxpayers dearly”.

Last month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed that Bedford Borough Council is spending approximately £200,000 per year on an empty building.

Documents obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests showed that the council signed the lease for 157 Midland Road, Bedford, on April 14, 2022, with the lease due to expire on March 31, 2027.

But it had been unused since March 2023, with the council declining to provide further details due to “commercial sensitivity”.

The Conservative Group said the building, which was leased to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation, is “entirely unsuitable” for this use.

It added that “in reality, it was a textbook case of political incompetence”.

Bedford mayor, Tom Wootton, said: “We inherited a disaster, the Lib Dems rushed into this lease without checking the basics, like whether the building was actually safe to house people.

“The result? Taxpayers left footing the bill for their negligence.

“We’ve cleaned up the mess, protected public funds, and ensured this kind of blunder won’t happen again. Their approach was political theatre; ours is financial competence.”

The Conservatives said their decision underscores their “commitment to strong governance, risk management” and “protecting residents’ money from ill-thought-out decisions” made by parties “more interested in press releases than due diligence”.

In response, Liberal Democrat spokesperson, councillor Michael Headley (Putnoe), said: “We would like to praise the Local Democracy Reporting Service investigation that uncovered more Conservative waste, with Bedford Borough Council ‘spending approximately £200,000 per year on an empty building’ under their leadership.

“The building was in use into 2023 but the Tory mayor then failed to take action for almost two years after he came into office in May 2023.

“It is this dithering that has cost taxpayers dearly.

“When you face an issue, you should deal with it, not just moan about it and desperately try to find someone else to blame two years into office.

“Publicly available reports show that for a long time the Conservatives didn’t seem to be able to decide whether they wanted this building for town centre redevelopment or not.

“This indecision had a cost as the bills kept coming in whilst they couldn’t make up their mind.

“I had already asked last month for this issue to be looked at by the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee so that we can all see what has happened here,” he said.

The LDRS asked the council for a copy of the decision waiver used to enable a council officer to sign this lease in place of an executive member.

But the council said there was no decision because it was dealt with under delegated authority.

The Conservatives said a formal lease surrender has been negotiated at a cost of £313,333, “avoiding over £600,000 in ongoing liabilities”.

Which brings closure to a “costly blunder” and mitigates the risks of holding a “structurally unfit, vacant property”.

This decision is subject to the council’s “call-in” procedure which will allow members to debate it and make recommendations.