Sale of surplus hospital raises £1.35m for NHS after services move to new facility

NHS Property Services has completed the sale of the former Market Harborough District Hospital for £1.35million.

The property, on Coventry Road, has been sold to Sterling Rose Care who intend to develop the site into a care home.

Clinical services moved out of the hospital in March 2017 after the opening of the nearby £7.5 million St Luke’s Treatment Centre in Market Harborough.

Proceeds from the sale of the site will be reinvested in the NHS.

The empty site was declared surplus to NHS requirements by East Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group, which plans and pays for local healthcare services.

The role of NHS Property Services (NHSPS) was to dispose of the property to generate valuable funds for reinvestment in the NHS.

Rosalind Grennell, Senior Transaction Manager for NHS Property Services, said: “We are pleased to be returning vital funds to the NHS while releasing this building/site so that it can be brought back to use.

“After our local NHS partners say a site is no longer needed, our role is to secure maximum value from sale of the site to benefit the NHS.”

The property was made available to other public bodies before being offered on the open market, but no viable approaches were received.

NHS Property Services instructed agents Innes England to place the property on the open market in May 2017. After a period of marketing, the agents negotiated with prospective purchasers during the autumn.

Contracts were exchanged in January 2018 and the unconditional sale completed on 16 May.

The War Memorial portico in at the main entrance to the building is protected by its Historic England Grade II Listing for its special architectural or historic interest. Responsibility for the War Memorial has passed to the new owner.

Miheer Mehta, Co-Owner of Sterling Rose Care, said: “We are delighted to have finally completed on the purchase of the Community Hospital in Market Harborough. We look forward to supporting the local community in providing a new build Luxury Care Home and respecting the importance and heritage of the listed Portico.

“We are currently working with our partner, Acacia Care and local stakeholders to achieve our objective and look forward to being part of the local area.”

Peter Doleman, Director at Innes England, added: “The marketing campaign drew out considerable development interest in the site, for a variety of purposes culminating in the satisfactory sale to the buyer.”