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Banks, library and job centre all up for sale at property auction

Two former high street banks, a job centre and a landmark library building will all feature in the next Pugh North West property auction in Manchester on 19 July, along with several other unusual lots.

The former NatWest Banks in Wigton and Grange-over-Sands, both of which closed in October, have been put up for auction with guide prices of £55,000 and £125,000 respectively.

Also due to go under the hammer, with a £240,000 guide price, is the former job centre in Farnworth, near Bolton, which closed last year as part of government plans to merge smaller job centres across the UK. In Barnoldswick, Coronation Hall, which was originally built as a cinema in 1911, and served until recently as a library, has been put up for sale with a guide price of £150,000.

The Edwardian building’s striking corner turret and tall windows have marked it out as a local landmark for over a century and the property covers more than 7,000 sq ft over two open-plan floors. Paul Thompson, managing director of Pugh auction house, said: “These are unique properties and all of them in excellent town centre locations.

“We are already seeing a great deal of interest from developers and investors in these and other community sites and buildings that are due to go under the hammer in our next auction.”

“A number of former bank premises have come to auction in recent months. With the rise of digital services our banking clients are reviewing their property portfolios and assessing requirements for the future. We look set to see more bank properties being offered for sale at our auctions over the coming months.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Kilmurray .