The sale of the City Ground's freehold to Nottingham Forest is "progressing well" after a new informal deadline was set for the club. The Reds have been urged to "come to the table" as soon as possible to make sure they get a good price for the land on which their stadium sits.
Nottingham City Council owns that land and had reportedly wanted to increase Forest's rent from £250,000 a year to "north of a million". The rent increase attempt led to a public row in which Forest threatened to move to Toton at one stage.
Tensions were eased when it was revealed that an offer for Forest to buy the City Ground's freehold for £10 million had long been on the table and remained so. Nottingham City Council eventually approved its side of a deal to sell the City Ground's freehold in July 2024, though the final price has not been disclosed at this stage.
The wait has continued ever since for Nottingham Forest to approve their side of the deal, which would then allow the sale to go through. Nottingham City Council initially said it wanted the deal done before Christmas 2024 and the authority then extended this ambition to the end of the financial year in April 2025, but Forest have still not carried out their side of the deal.
The club had previously said that approving the deal would be dependent on them getting planning permission for the redevelopment of the City Ground. A major boost for these plans came at a meeting in June 2025, but the club have still not said when and if they will approve the City Ground freehold sale.
Neghat Khan, Nottingham City Council's leader, has now issued the first update in months on the status of talks. Councillor Khan said: "It's all progressing well, that's what I'm being told.
"I think our officers are just touching base and everything seems fine, they've got planning and it's great that they're now in the Europa League as well." Although Nottingham City Council is the landowner, Rushcliffe Borough Council is the planning authority that covers the City Ground.
Rushcliffe's planning committee voted at the crunch June meeting to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the Peter Taylor Stand. The approval of these plans, which will increase capacity by 5,000, was conditional on factors including the relocating of the Nottingham Rowing Club from the Britannia Boathouse that's due to be demolished under the plans.
Rushcliffe also gave initial approval on plans for a block of up to 170 apartments next to the rebuilt stand, though this is subject to approval of other details Forest will have to provide in due course. Many believed this major planning boost in June would unlock the City Ground freehold sale, but Councillor Khan said Forest had been distracted by the ongoing summer transfer window, which closes on September 1.
The city leader said: "I think if they had to prioritise it, they're looking at players on the pitch rather than the ground itself, but I'd like it to happen as soon as possible. I'm told that everything's fine, there's no issues with it, it's just progressing.
"I think Forest are preoccupied." Asked if there was a clock running on the city council's deal, Councillor Khan added: "We haven't got a deadline on it, but I have said obviously you can't hold that price forever.
"Markets change, prices go up, so if Forest want it at that price, they've got to come to the table fairly soon, so that's what I'm saying. If the transfer window closes on September 1, I'd like to hear from them by the end of September."
The Reds first unveiled their proposal to expand the ground on the banks of the River Trent back in 2019 and they were given conditional permission in 2022, though progress was delayed by "complex" negotiations over issues including the Nottingham Rowing Club relocation. Forest's broader plans include improving and, in the case of the Bridgford Stand, extending the other three sides of the ground.
The overall masterplan aims to get stadium capacity from just short of 30,000 up to 40,000. Nottingham Forest were contacted for comment, but the club did not respond.