Borough care home one of two sold at auction after being emptied following council budget cuts

Two closed Derbyshire care homes have been sold at auction for more than £1.7 million months after they were emptied following council budget cuts.

At an auction last week, the former Briar Close Care Home in Borrowash and Thomas Colledge House in Bolsover were sold for £960,000 and £780,000 respectively.

The sales come just a month after the auction of another former Derbyshire County Council care home – Castle Court in Castle Gresley – which went under the hammer for £2.59 million in late September.

The three council care home sales to date, all emptied of residents and closed in June, following a failed sale to a sole provider last Christmas, have now netted the authority £4.33 million.

All three obtained sales far above their guideprices, with the council having to issue an 11th hour decision notice for the Borrowash and Bolsover care homes, also covering the future sale of care homes in Eckington and Swanwick, after the Castle Gresley facility sold for so much higher than the £600,000 expected (four-fold).

The Castle Gresley facility is now to reopen as a care home under private provider Your Health.

Briar Close had been listed for £300,000 and sold for more than three times that amount, while Thomas Colledge had been listed for £375,000 and sold for more than double that figure.

The Grange care home in Eckington and Rowthorne in Swanwick are now set to appear at auctions at a later date, with no listing yet available.

Meanwhile, the former Bolsover Day Services centre, which connects to the same plot as the now sold former Thomas Colledge site, is also now set to be sold at auction with a guide price of £100,000, following its closure under the former Conservative administration.

To date, the council has not specified whether any of the eight care homes will be retained for other council services, with the authority suggesting this remained an option rather than a sale.

These facilities had been slated to be sold under the previous Conservative administration, however, the unsuccessful sale took place under the Reform UK administration, which then decided to vacate all the facilities, effectively evicting its residents, close them in June, and either sell or reuse the properties.

Offers to buy individual care homes, including The Grange in Eckington and Castle Court in Castle Gresley were both ignored and rejected by the authority.

A council decision notice regarding Briar Close House, Thomas Colledge House, The Grange and Rowthorne states that the sales will include 999-year leases that restrict the future use of the properties.

It writes: “Sales by way of leasehold interests would allow the council to place use restrictions which were key to allow consideration as to what they might be used for in future and enable the council to restrict the use of the sites going forwards and to prevent any development which would directly impact on the surrounding residential area and help support the development that was required in the area.

“Sales by auction was the quickest route to market and would encourage competitive bidding in a fair, open and transparent manner.”

The decision notice, referring to the failed sale of the eight homes to a sole provider, writes: “A sale did not materialise.”

It says: “The buildings were vacant, and the unoccupied buildings would inevitably deteriorate over time and could pose a danger to the public if left unsecured. The cost of securing and retaining the assets long term for future use would be cost-prohibitive and does not align with the council plan.”

The notice says “the assets would require significant capital investment and would not be financially viable” to retain or redevelop.

Regarding the decision notice for the four care homes listed for auction following the Castle Court sale a council spokesperson said: “Officers have delegated powers to place properties for auction up to a value of £500,000.

“Where properties are expected to achieve in excess of £500,000, cabinet member approval is required.

“Recent sale results have been very positive, so cabinet member approval has been sought because we anticipate the homes will generate income in excess of £500,000.”