Nottingham Forest has yet to purchase the land its stadium sits on from the City Council.
The club reached an agreement to purchase the freehold for the land, which is owned by the Labour-led council, last year.
This followed a dispute over the council’s plan to increase rent from £250,000 to around £1 million after the club was promoted to the Premier League.
However, the purchase has stalled owing to the club submitting refreshed plans to further expand its City Ground stadium, which sits next to the River Trent in the Rushcliffe borough.
In December last year, Nottingham Forest submitted ambitious new plans to increase capacity to 52,000, just months after earlier proposals were approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council.
Cllr Neghat Khan (Lab), the leader of Nottingham City Council said: “I did go to Forest. They showed the plans. The mayor was there. They held a launch event.
“Forest are just waiting for the planning. They have submitted additional planning. They originally received planning from Rushcliffe; they have now applied for additional planning. Once they get that back, then hopefully they will open their pockets and purchase it from us.
“We’ve been waiting for them. We’ve been ready for the last two years to complete that deal.
“But I’m happy even if they don’t buy it; they can go on a long lease. It’s not as if the council needs the money in that sense, so if they don’t want to buy it, then they can go on a long lease with us – but the price will be higher; it’s not what it was.
Proposals to redevelop the existing Peter Taylor Stand and build a new apartment block were first given the green light by Rushcliffe Borough Council in July 2022, after an unveiling in 2019.
Plans approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council in June last year were largely the same, but they returned to the council’s planning committee for consideration because of the “extended passage of time” since they were first approved.
At the time of negotiations with Nottingham City Council, Forest had just 33 years remaining on its lease and said an extension was needed if it were to invest in the redevelopment of the ground.
After a period of impasse, it was understood that both parties had agreed on the sale of the land to Forest for an undisclosed sum.
However, the club said at the time that its final decision to buy the freehold was subject to it securing planning permission.
The new plans were submitted to Rushcliffe earlier in January, and the freehold is yet to be sold.
With Forest’s revised vision, the City Ground’s capacity could reach up to 52,000, although the initial focus would be on reaching 45,000.
If plans are approved, enabling works could begin this summer ahead of construction in 2027.
