ONLY a preliminary contract - not a formal lease - currently exists between Bradford Live and the NEC Group, the Telegraph & Argus understands.

The T&A has obtained Land Registry documents showing Bradford Live and the NEC Group entered into an Agreement for Lease in 2018 "for a term of 30 years from the practical completion date determined by the Agreement".

An Agreement for Lease is a preliminary contract. It usually outlines conditions which must be met before a formal lease is completed. 

The Agreement for Lease between Bradford Live and the NEC Group is not available to view publicly, so it is not possible to see exactly what conditions were outlined in it.

Claire Murphy - a solicitor who has worked in the legal sector for around 30 years - told the T&A that currently there is no confirmation via the Land Registry that a formal lease has been completed between Bradford Live and the NEC Group.

In recent weeks, Bradford Council has said "preparations can now be made for fit out of the venue by the operator and the legal processes relating to handover to the NEC Group are progressing".

The Birmingham-based NEC Group has repeatedly declined to reaffirm its commitment to operating Bradford Live as an entertainment venue for much of this year.

It is not known when the taxpayer-backed £50.5 million venue will open.

Ms Murphy, who is head of the commercial property department at Switalskis Solicitors, which has an office in Bradford, said: "Land Registry documents show there was an Agreement for Lease registered between Bradford Live and the NEC Group in 2018, and this was varied in 2021.

"Once all the conditions in an Agreement for Lease are satisfied - and we don't know all the conditions in this case as we don't have sight of the Agreement for Lease - then the formal lease is completed. 

"The 'legal processes' could relate to conditions in the Agreement for Lease - these conditions would all have to be satisfied before the formal lease is completed.

"'Practical completion' on the building was announced by the Council in a press release on July 17, and I'd have thought that the conditions in the Agreement for Lease would all have been satisfied so that the formal lease to the NEC Group would have been completed fairly soon after that.

"But as things stand, Land Registry checks tell us no formal lease has yet been completed between Bradford Live and the NEC Group."

The NEC Group, Bradford Council and Bradford Live were approached for comment. No statements were received.