It turns out owning one of Nottingham’s grandest buildings doesn’t come cheap. The city’s landmark Council House is in need of some serious TLC, with urgent repairs set to cost more than £11 million.

In the 1920s, famed architect T. C. Howitt was commissioned to design the city’s new Council House.

It was opened on May 22, 1929, by King Edward VIII, who was the Prince of Wales at the time.

The Grade II listed Neo-Baroque-style building will celebrate its centenary in 2029, and Nottingham City Council’s ruling Labour group pledged to give it a revamp ahead of this in its election manifesto back in 2023.

The authority has now revealed it will be spending £8.65 million to repair the leaking roof, in addition to £2.97 million for other urgent repairs, over the next three years – subject to approval by councillors on October 20.

“The proposed three-year capital programme will enable the council to address the most pressing health and safety and condition-related issues first, while also undertaking targeted preventative works that reduce the risk of more extensive and costly failures later,” the authority says.

“This supports a planned, risk-based approach to protecting the operational estate and maintaining service continuity.”

Nottingham’s Council House acts as a forum for debate and decision-making when Nottingham councillors meet for Full Council.

It is also still the register office for births, marriages, and deaths.

It is the largest civic building in the city and features a 200ft dome, which houses the Little John bell.

At the time of its commissioning, which prompted some level of outrage among the public due to its cost of around £500,000, it was to become the largest stone building built in the country since the First World War.

The work forms part of a wider £19 million repairs programme to the council’s wider property estate.

A recent survey found the council would need to spend more than £30 million on priority works across its entire operational estate.

Loxley House, the council’s headquarters in Station Street, also requires almost £6 million for urgent repairs, which will be funded under the programme.

Lesser sums are to be spent on urgent works on other buildings, including £950,000 at the St Ann’s Valley Centre, £100,000 on flooring at the Royal Concert Hall, £200,000 at Byron House, and £62,000 on the Broad Marsh car park and bus station.

Ian Wells, vice-chairman of the Nottingham Civic Society, previously said the state of the building was “very disappointing at the moment.”

By Joe Locker (Local Democracy Reporter) with added nonsense by Laura Wilde