THE multi-million pound former council headquarters King’s House is back on the market – and local authority bosses have already received expressions of interest.

It comes just three weeks after it was revealed the sale of the Brighton and Hove City Council building had fallen through.

King’s House in King’s Road, Hove, is one of the city’s prime pieces of real estate and is expected to go for in excess of £20 million.

There was disappointment in March when talks between the council and an unnamed partnership of nine firms broke down.

Council leaders said they took the decision to walk away from the talks after failing to overcome “a number of unresolvable issues”.

But over the weekend council leader Warren Morgan revealed to radio station Juice FM that King’s House was back on the market.

He said the property had been put in the Estates Gazette on Saturday adding that he had already had two expressions of interest that were “well worth exploring”.

He said he was confident of a swift sale adding that the money raised would be spent on services as well as saving the seafront.

It is a welcome piece of good news for the council leader after it was revealed last week his bid for funding to kick start the regeneration of the seafront arches was refused.

It is thought a large chunk of the money from the sale will now be put towards the seafront.

The eight-storey King’s House has been empty since October with council staff now based in Hove Town Hall.

Last time the property was on the market the local authority received almost 200 enquiries for the 100,000sqft offices.

Earlier this month the GMB union called for King’s House to be kept in use while the protracted process of selling to a housing developer is completed.

With the council almost three years into the process, GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said it should look to make money from the grade II listed former hotel for what could be a lengthy sale.

He said: “I think they will have to find an alternative use for it otherwise all the money on keeping the property secure just goes into a black hole.

“They should think about using it themselves or get some other organisation in.

“If you don’t keep using it, if you don’t keep up the maintenance, then it won’t be long before it starts to look run down.

“It was meant to save £750,000 a year in running costs but that was on the basis that they would no longer have their liability at King’s House.”

The council has spent £24,000 on security and maintenance since October.