Former hospital site sold after three attempts

The site of a former hospital in south Devon has been sold after a number of previous attempts fell through.

The Dartmouth and Kingswear Community Hospital building was put up for auction in September 2024, the third attempt to sell the property.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it had been sold "on the open market" by auctioneers on 9 May without disclosing the sale price.

The proceeds would be used to fund the £5.4m Dartmouth Health and Wellbeing Centre which opened in May 2023, it said.

The building, on the embankment overlooking the River Dart, was nearly sold in January 2024 but the preferred bidder fell through.

The reported guide price at a July auction was about £1.5m before it was put up for auction in September.

Trust chief executive Joe Teape said the organisation was "pleased to confirm the sale".

He added: "We are respecting the buyer's request to not be named.

"We would like to thank Dartmouth Town Council and Charles Darrow property agents for their support during the sale process."

The building was one of a number of community hospitals closed in 2017.

The trust said it was "not yet sharing" the sale figure and it would publish the details in its annual accounts.

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