by John Prince
The future of the former council offices in Skirlaugh remains uncertain after the For Sale sign disappeared from outside the building.
The sprawling complex on Main Road, which includes a Grade II-listed former workhouse and a Cold War nuclear bunker, was offered for sale earlier this year, with a deadline for bids of March 4.
However, the removal of the sign has raised questions about whether a buyer has been found after more than six months since the deadline passed, and what might happen to the landmark site.
East Riding Council has confirmed however that the property remains unsold and that its future is still being considered.
A council spokesman said: “No final decision has been made and any redevelopment will require planning permission.
“The property has not been sold, and we are still considering the long-term future of the property.”
The property has disappeared from East Riding Council’s online directory of buildings for sale or rent, although it remains advertised on Rightmove, where it is marked as “under offer”.
The former Holderness Borough Council offices and library depot were declared surplus to requirements in 2024.
The council subsequently invited expressions of interest from potential buyers, describing the property as offering considerable scope for commercial use or redevelopment.
The original Rowton Villas building dates from 1838, when it was constructed as a workhouse. It was later converted and extended during the 1970s to provide offices for Holderness Borough Council.
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One of its more unusual features is a nuclear bunker built beneath the former council chamber in 1989, during the final years of the Cold War.
Known as the Holderness District Council Emergency Centre, it was intended to protect local officials and allow them to co-ordinate emergency operations in the event of a nuclear attack.
The bunker was later used for storing council archives, while the wider complex passed to East Riding Council following local government reorganisation in 1996.
The site includes extensive office and industrial accommodation, a detached office building, storage facilities and a large yard with parking for more than 100 vehicles.
The council’s adopted Local Plan allocates the wider site, including additional land, for residential development, with an indicative capacity of 67 homes.
However, any development would have to retain and convert the Grade II-listed former workhouse building, with proposals also subject to heritage and planning requirements.
For now, the buildings remain empty, with no confirmed buyer, no agreed redevelopment scheme and fresh questions about the security of the site.
