BRECON’S Market Hall is set to be sold this week with a private owner set to take over the Grade II listed building.

Powys council advertised the building, including the Market Hall Arcade which is open six days a week, for sale earlier this year. It says it costs £91,859 each year to run the building and only makes £76,301 from the market.

A report, recommending the sale for an undisclosed amount is approved, is due to go for a decision on Thursday.

Cllr Phyl Davies was due to make the decision on Thursday, and he met with market traders and tenancy holders from the arcade, last week.

But Cllr Davies moved from his cabinet position in charge of property to the education role, late on Tuesday, so it is unclear who will take the decision on the Market Hall.

Traders have said they are keen to meet with the council and new owner to get more information on how the sale could impact them.

The report valued the Market Hall at £352,800 and suggests that the building has been sold for a higher figure, although the details of the deal are being kept confidential.

The hall hosts Brecon’s twice weekly ’Charter Markets’, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the council had said the new operators should "recognise the ongoing challenges imposed by the operation of the Charter Market".

The council has been struggling for a number of years with the management of the Market Hall with traders having previously complained not enough was done to support and market the attraction and a maintenance backlog stood at £206,325 in 2017.

Ten years ago the council had unveiled ambitious refurbishment plans, but those fell away when plans to redevelop the nearby library site at Ship Street were scrapped.

Brecon Town Council had also been brought on board two years ago to help traders manage the market and that scheme could be reviewed with the new owners.

Market Hall to be sold to property developer - see this week’s Brecon & Radnor Express, on sale now