Department will pay NHS 'market rate' of £400m for 1650 ha of hospital sites
The ODPM and NHS were this week expected to announce a £400m deal that will see the ODPM build 15,000 homes on former NHS land in the next 15 years.

In the unprecedented deal, the ODPM will pay the Department of Health "the market value of around £400m" for 100 surplus NHS sites, covering 1650 ha.

The sites, scattered across the UK, will be masterplanned by English Partnerships as the quango presses ahead with its increased role in development (HT 26 March, page 9).

As well as homes, they could be used for green space as part of the housing market renewal projects in the North and Midlands.

The homes will be built by private firms. Up to 5000 of them will be affordable but it was not clear as Housing Today went to press on Tuesday how many would be rented, or who would manage the rented element.

Any surpluses from the schemes will accrue to the ODPM.

Deputy prime minister John Prescott and health secretary John Reid were expected to announce the deal yesterday. It comes amid increasing complaints that the government has sold land to the highest bidder rather than using it to make homes more affordable for public sector workers.

One such sale, in which private firm Miller Homes was to buy 114 sites from NHS Estates for £400m, collapsed earlier this year. It had attracted widespread criticism, not least from EP, which had also bid for the sites, as there was no guarantee the land would be used to meet local housing need.

Source

Housing Today