Regulator rejects council's homeless flats plan

Leicester City Council's plan to use a block of flats as temporary accommodation for homeless people has been rejected by the government's safety regulator.

The authority bought the Yoho building, in York Street, for £10.9m in February 2025 to provide 134 units of temporary accommodation.

However, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) confirmed it has refused to grant the seven-storey building a safety certificate for the proposed use.

The Labour-run council, which is paying between £10,000 and £12,000 a month for on-site security at the empty building, said a new application would be submitted and that the delays were "deeply frustrating".

Opposition councillors have accused the authority of failing to carry out due diligence on the purchase before agreeing it.

Green Party city councillor Patrick Kitterick said: "This building is just sitting there, empty, costing the council thousands and thousands of pounds every month.

"And absolutely nobody has a clue if, or when, it will ever be used.

"It was a massively expensive purchase which continues to be a drain on resources we can scarce afford to waste because the city is in the grip of a housing crisis.

"I'm unconvinced there was a proper risk assessment of this."

Liberal Democrat councillor Zuffar Haq said: "We have this Yoho building.

"We were told at a meeting a few years ago that this money was going to be used straight away, have an impact and benefit residents straight away.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe this.

"There's a desperate need for [council] houses. There are 6,000 people on the waiting list.

"Why would you buy something that you can't use?"

The council said it had approached the BSR for approval to adapt the Yoho building in February 2026 under an application to do minor works.

However, the BSR said the authority should have applied for a major works certificate.

The council said it took BSR five months to inform its application needed resubmitting.

At a meeting on Thursday, deputy city mayor Elly Cutkelvin said: "We are deeply frustrated because we have not yet received [the Yoho building's] Gateway Two approval and therefore we are not able to give a date for when we expect the building to be open to residents."

"What we have to remember is Yoho is a relatively young building.

"It was purpose-built in 2019 and up until quite recently it has been occupied and it has been inspected from a fire safety perspective several times and no issues were raised.

"It is frustrating that it has taken so long but officers did advise, during due diligence for the Yoho, that they had spoken to the Building Safety Regulator and they were advised it was a relatively straightforward application.

"On that basis it wasn't considered a risk."

Cutkelvin said delays were beyond the council's control.

A BSR spokesperson said: "The Building Safety Regulator received a building control approval application for the Yoho building in Leicester, which was rejected on 2 July 2026 because the application did not demonstrate compliance with the building regulations.

"There is currently no live building control approval application with BSR for the Yoho building.

"Applications for higher-risk building work can only be approved where the information provided demonstrates compliance with the building regulations."

A city council spokesperson added: "These delays are not unique to this building or to Leicester, with similar issues being reported elsewhere.

"We are now adjusting our current Gateway Two application and hope any further delays in launching this important service can be avoided.

"Once open, the new service at the Yoho building will allow the council to move away from the need to use expensive bed and breakfast accommodation for those facing homelessness and is projected to save the authority around £2.8m per year."

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