Derelict Bradford building to benefit from Government funding

A scheme to convert Galem House, in the Goitside Conservation area, into 77 flats will be partly funded through a national fund to bring vacant and derelict sites into use as housing.

A new report claims that without some kind of funding deal, any plans for the building are likely to remain dead in the water.

Plans to convert the 19th Century textile warehouse on Vincent Street, off Sunbridge Road, into flats were submitted to Bradford Council by Coverstone Investments Ltd and Trident House Development last year.

Now it has been revealed that the £9.7m conversion project will be boosted by £1.2m from the Government’s Brownfield Housing Fund.

Inside Galem House

A meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Place, Regeneration and Housing Committee will be told that previous plans to redevelop the building had stalled due to low house value in the area.

After becoming a Mayoral Authority in 2020, West Yorkshire was told it would be able to apply to the Brownfield Housing Fund to help re-develop long empty plots of land.

Successful bids would require West Yorkshire Combined Authority to show that the land in question had experienced “market failure” – and was unlikely to be developed without this extra support.

Flats 'cheaper to buy than build' in some areas of Bradford

So far, funding has been awarded to two Bradford schemes, both involving building new family homes on the sites of former high rise buildings – off Manchester Road and in Bingley.

Now Galem House, one of the biggest eyesores in the city centre, is set to benefit from the fund.

An artist's impression of the planned redevelopment

It has been subject to a number of planned developments in the past 15 years.

In 2008, a planning application to demolish the building and replace it with an office and flats was approved, although work never began.

That was followed by an application in 2016 to convert the building to 64 flats. Again, that work never began.

Bradford Council has yet to decide on the latest application.

A report by the Combined Authority says: “The property has been vacant and has become increasingly derelict since it was closed some 20 years ago and although interest has been shown in redeveloping the property in the past, none of these initiatives have proved to be viable due to the relatively immature and inherently low value property market in the Bradford city centre area.

“The site has long term neglect leading to structural issues, water damage, asbestos contamination, and non-standard construction meaning the development is reliant on public sector intervention.

“The project is intended to deliver a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartment homes incorporating low-carbon development principles.”