By Nigel Burnham

As the British government’s drastic program of spending cuts continues unabated, hundreds of historic buildings – from Victorian libraries to windmills – are being sold off at bargain prices by councils desperate to raise extra funds.

Among the buildings recently put on the market are the Grade-II listed former St. Giles Hospital in Camberwell, south London, Conisbrough Priory near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and the 19th-century Lluesty Hospital in north Wales.

Two Georgian terraces in Greenwich, south London, have also been put on the market by Her Majesty’s Courts Service, along with the public swimming baths in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Even central government is trying to reduce its own £270 billion estate, with sales totalling £115 million in the past nine months – including heritage buildings like the former Land Registry headquarters, c. 1862, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London.

With its signature clock tower, turrets and wrought iron gates, St. Giles – which is being sold after being deemed too costly to maintain by health and social care organisation NHS Southwark – is a grand Georgian building way beyond the budget of the average house-hunter.

But property experts say that Britain’s “Big Council Sell-Off” is an ideal opportunity for shrewd buyers to snap up historic buildings at bargain prices.

The sell-off will include ornate Victorian libraries, town halls, courts, museums and less obvious publicly held historic properties – Suffolk County Council, for example, has been selling its windmills. Doncaster Council put Conisbrough Priory up for auction at a guide price of £275,000, while the Rotherham swimming baths went on the market for £150,000.

Lluesty Hospital in North Wales sold at auction for £275,000 in February. Set in a courtyard and complete with a parapet, this classical building was bought by property developers who plan to build 70 houses in its 7.4 acre grounds.

Auction house Lambert Smith Hampton, based in Yorkshire and London, says 14 councils listed about 100 of their properties for its most recent sale. While some of the public buildings could be too large and run-down for an amateur developer, others are more manageable.

The trade publication is advising house-hunters to monitor property auctions on a regular basis.

“People who want to renovate a former public building into a modern residential home may scoop a bargain if what they want does not sell well in the auction room,” said a spokeswoman.

“The councils are using auction houses so it is best to keep up to date with brochures from local auctioneers because these will list what lots they have to offer in any forthcoming auction.”

Heritage conservationists, however, are warning that the sale of Britain’s historic buildings to developers is putting the country’s architectural heritage at risk because, while the government is keen for local groups to take on “heritage assets” when they come on the market – which could be an improvement in areas where local bodies are not looking after properties well – in many places community groups that could take on large or awkward buildings do not exist.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) fears that buildings that are not sold could end up being abandoned and boarded up to reduce running costs. SPAB secretary Philip Venning says, “The situation could well become something of a gamble for hundreds of historic buildings. While there may be some positive outcomes, SPAB is deeply concerned that great swathes of the nation’s built heritage will face an uncertain future under new ownership – or will simply be mothballed.”

Ian Lush, chief executive of the Architectural Heritage Fund, says, “The transfer of assets is both a threat and an opportunity. It is a threat because the number of historic buildings which are being declared redundant by public sector owners – and this is not just local authorities, but also includes the Ministry of Defence, fire services, health trusts and so on – exceeds the number of community groups and commercial developers able to take them on.”

House-hunters looking for heritage homes already in tip-top repair might be more interested in three gems being sold privately, which have recently hit the market in the English county of Wiltshire: Salthrop House at Basset Down, near Marlborough, at a guide price of £3 million; Bolehyde Manor at Allington, near Chippenham, at a guide price of £4.75 million, and the exquisite, Grade I-listed Walton Canonry in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close, at a guide price of £6 millon.

Similar Posts:

• Huge Atlanta Real Estate Auction This Weekend
• Real estate: As banks shed debt, investors swoop in
• California investment firm Matteson buys Vancouver apartment complex for $21M
• Remember The Over The Top Risque Videos – They Worked
• Developers call off Pearl District apartment tower