Hartlepool Youth Project to Close After 18 Years as Council Accepts Lease Surrender..
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Lease Surrender Approved as Hartlepool Volunteer-Led Youth Scheme Winds Up
13th Feb 2026
Hartlepool’s long-running Rifty Youth Project is to close its doors permanently after almost two decades of community work, with Hartlepool Borough Council said to have formally agreed to an early surrender of its lease at Rift House Community Centre where the community group was based.
An Officer Decision Record seen by the Teesside & Durham Post dated 4 February 2026 confirms that the volunteer-run project requested to surrender its 10-year lease of part of the Rift House Community Building on Masefield Road with effect from 31 March 2026 .
The lease had only commenced in April 2023, meaning the agreement was due to run until 2033. However, according to the decision notice, project leaders have taken the decision to wind up operations, claiming a lack of sufficient volunteers and capacity to continue delivering services .
The Rifty Youth Project has reportedly operated for approximately 18 years in total, supporting its activities in part by sub-letting surplus space within the building to generate income. With the organisation now closing, the Council has agreed in principle to accept the surrender of the lease.
The Council’s stated the reasons for agreeing the surrender of the lease is that, with the project being wound up, the accommodation “may well be suitable for direct Council uses, or alternative re-letting” . The specific financial terms of the surrender have however not been published by the council.
The closure marks the end of a longstanding community initiative in Rift House in an area that's historically relied on volunteer-led provision for youth engagement and support services. For many years the project provided structured activities and safe space for young people in the ward.
Its now set to close in just weeks...
