The site of the former Broadmoor Hospital, which at one point was home to some of the UK’s most notorious criminals, including the Yorkshire Ripper, Charles Bronson and Ronnie Kray, is being put up for sale, BE News can reveal.
The West London NHS Trust has appointed Montagu Evans to sell the circa 60-acre site in Crowthorne, Berkshire, as a residential redevelopment opportunity. The site, which is expected to come to market in the coming weeks, sits within the former secure perimeter walls of the hospital and includes the circa.100,000 sq ft Grade II listed, Victorian former asylum building.
It is identified in the local plan as a potential development site for around 210 new build houses, 60 apartments for later living, a 60-bed care home and a circa 4,200 sq m [circa 45,000 sq ft] R&D facility.
However, a source told BE News the NHS now wanted to sell the site solely as a residential development opportunity, without the R&D element. BE News understands the trust wants to propose changes to the designation in the local plan to allow for a residential-only scheme.
However, there is a ‘presumption against residential development’ due to the site’s proximity to a Special Protection Area (SPA), so the trust may need to overcome objections, including from Natural England, to its proposals for a residential-only development.
Broadmoor Hospital was built in 1863 and is one of three high security psychiatric hospitals in England. In 2019, a new Broadmoor Hospital opened next to the existing facility as many of the buildings in the historic Victorian facility were not suitable to deliver modern mental health care.
The West London NHS Trust confirmed to BE News it had appointed Montagu Evans to sell the site.
