A council’s offices have been bought for £3.6m, a figure described by the leader of the district’s Liberal Democrat group as a “high price”.

North Herts District Council (NHDC) insist it will make significant savings of £120,000 per year after purchasing its offices in Gernon Road, Letchworth GC, last week, having previously rented the property for many years.

But Cllr Steve Jarvis, Liberal Democrat group leader at NHDC, said: “The council has paid a high price for the council offices to obtain some savings in rent but a simple calculation shows that it will be more than 20 years before the council will be better off buying than renting. Will the council need the same sort of offices in 20 years? Will it still exist in its current format in 20 years? Nobody knows.

“What is clear is that the previous owners will have done very well out of the deal. Whether or not the council tax payers of North Herts will ever benefit is much less certain.”

The purchase is the latest stage in a wider project to reduce overheads relating to the council’s accommodation by removing the costs associated with paying an annual rent and by vacating other buildings.

Cllr Lynda Needham, leader of NHDC, said: “Last July, councillors reviewed a number of accommodation options and decided that purchasing the building and carrying out necessary refurbishments would provide tax payers with the best value for money in the long term.

“As one of the district’s larger employers, we also felt it important to retain a town centre presence, both to provide a convenient service for residents and boost the local economy by having a workforce who can shop locally. It also means that the council can continue to explore more potential cost saving opportunities including sharing the office space with other organisations.”

The next stages of the project include carrying out internal refurbishments to the building to improve issues such as lighting and temperature.

The work on the refurbishment – which is expected to begin in spring 2015 – aims to make the building more environmentally sustainable.

The programme of works includes the ground floor of the building where the customer service centre is based, with alternative arrangements to be put in place for customer access during that particular phase.