Closed council care homes sold at auction

Two former council-run care homes have sold at auction for more than £1.7m.

Briar Close Care Home in Borrowash and Thomas Colledge House in Bolsover were sold for £960,000 and £780,000 respectively after Derbyshire County Council closed them in June as part of budget cuts.

The sales come just a month after the auction of another former council care home, Castle Court in Castle Gresley, which went under the hammer for £2.59m in late September.

A decision to sell a total of eight care homes was taken by the previous Conservative administration in late 2024, but a planned sale to a single operator by the current Reform UK led council fell through in December 2025.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said 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.

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.

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.

List of care homes being or have been sold by Derbyshire County Council:

• The Leys, Ashbourne
• Thomas Colledge House, Bolsover
• Briar Close, Borrowash
• Castle Court, Castle Gresley
• The Grange, Eckington
• Lacemaker Court, Long Eaton
• New Bassett House, Shirebrook
• Rowthorne, Swanwick

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.

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, said the LDRS.

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.

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

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."

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