Newham LBC has denied it plans to sell its £110m new office facility, only three years after amalgamating staff from 26 separate sites into the prestigious dockside location Building 1000.

The rebuttal follows claims made by serving councillors that buyers have not been found for council premises abandoned ahead of the colocation, which remain a cash drain for Newham, and that officers are examining options to lease out Building 1000.

Newham courted controversy in 2010 when details of the £18.7m refurbishment costs for the £92m building were made public – including designer light fittings priced £1,800 each.

Then local government minister, Bob Neill, accused Newham, led by mayor Sir Robin Wales, of ‘living a champagne socialist lifestyle at the taxpayers’ expense’.

A council spokeswoman said: ‘As the council continues to review its services because of government cuts, we may have less services operating from Newham dockside.

‘This might result in us renting out the whole building but retaining ownership of the space. However, there are no plans to sell the building at present,’ the spokeswoman said.

She added the collocation would have saved Newham £50m by next year as a result of efficiencies made by sharing facilities, cutting overall running costs, better use of resources and renting out other council buildings.

Local government minister, Brandon Lewis, said: ‘It’s an amazing thing – spending £111m on a building that was argued by Newham to be saving money and yet they are sitting on empty buildings elsewhere.

‘When you spend that sort of money just on light fittings and £111m on a building, residents looking for good quality services and low council tax will rightly be asking difficult questions of the council,’ added Mr Lewis.