Slough Borough Council’s empty former headquarters is costing it some hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to keep, leading councillors have said – but it can’t be sold just yet.

St Martin’s Place on Bath Road has been empty since the last of Slough Borough Council’s services moved to its modern HQ on Windsor Road in 2021. It was earmarked for sale in 2022 but is yet to be put on the market.

Councillor Wal Chahal – responsible for finance – said the building cost some £600,000 a year to keep. He said: “Our old offices, we moved out of there in 2018, they’ve been empty now for more than six years. For the past six years we’ve been paying £600,000 a year.”

Conservative councillor Chahal blamed the ‘incompetence’ of the previous Labour administration, which oversaw the council’s move to its new Observatory House offices.

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The council’s previous leaders had hoped in 2021 that St Martin’s Place could be converted into affordable housing. But the council went effectively bankrupt later that year, and the building was added to its list of ‘surplus’ properties that could be sold to help pay off its debts in 2022.

Councillor Chahal was speaking at a meeting of the leading cabinet’s asset disposals committee on October 17. He and council leader Dexter Smith said the committee would eventually come to make a decision on the sale.

But councillor Smith appeared to suggest there were a few issues related to the use of the building that need to be resolved first.

Answering a request for more information, a spokesperson told the Observer that ‘a number of operational matters require clarification’ before the council can decide when to put it up for sale. They added: “The cost of upkeep renders this matter a priority.”

The update comes after St Martin’s Place was accidentally listed for sale online earlier this year.

It appeared on the Houses For Sale To Rent search engine on June 25 where it was described as ‘an excellent development or conversion opportunity’ before being removed.

The advert said: “St Martins Place represents an excellent development or conversion opportunity to deliver a significant residential or alternative use scheme.

“The property was the former headquarters of Slough Borough Council and has been vacant since the Slough Borough Council relocated to Observatory House in 2019.”

The council then said the former HQ ‘isn’t for sale right now’ and that it was apparently published by mistake by its property agents.

Slough Borough Council began its asset sales programme in 2022 and at one point had hoped to raise £600 million this way. But it announced this year this target had become ‘unrealistic’ for reasons including falling property prices.

Senior officials said in September that the council may have to make ‘difficult decisions’ about council services as a result.