Willows sold to Andium for £10 as part of redevelopment deal

Wednesday 15 September 2021

The Willows Day Care Centre and Willow House in Green Street has been sold by the Government to Andium Homes for £10.

The sale takes the social housing provider one step closer to beginning its redevelopment of former Limes nursing home and surrounding buildings into social housing.

Andium previously acquired the Limes from the public for £10 in 2017, when it was also agreed that the Willows would be sold to taxpayer-owned company for a nominal sum. The company then had to deny it had sold the site on after comments on social media suggested it had.

It already has permission to demolish the existing Limes nursing home, Willows Day Care Centre and residential accommodation and build 40 one-bedroom, 83 two-bedroom and seven three-bedroom units.

As part of a separate planning application, it also has approval to convert Willow Court and Willow House into 14 one-bed and three two-bed homes with parking and landscaping. 

Pictured: the lower ground floor site plan of the new development (Andium/Waddington).

Andium expect that the redevelopment will start by the middle of next year and be finished in 2024.

The company has a programme to build 3,000 new homes by 2030. 410 of these had already been completed before this year.

195 are due to be completed this year, 117 in 2022, and 323 in 2023.

Much of the funding for this provision comes from a £250m bond which the Government took out in 2014 with a 3.54% fixed interest rate that matures in 2054.

The Limes, a former Health site, is currently used as junior doctor and hospital key-worker accommodation.

The cost of the development has not been publicly revealed by Andium as the procurement process is ongoing.