Former care home to become family house

A large former care home in a Herefordshire village could be turned it back into a private house.

Built in the early 19th century, the grade II-listed Hampton House in Hampton Bishop, south east of Hereford, was bought by Herefordshire Old

People’s Housing Society in 1951 and turned into a registered residential care home.

But it closed in September last year, as “a direct consequence of the financial strain that the residential care home had been under for some time”, while the building itself “was no longer fit for purpose”, the society said.

The society had already sold an adjacent cottage in 2016 to raise capital to continue trading.

But when Covid struck, admissions were put on hold and fees reduced, while the “low rates” paid by local authority-supported residents “also impacted on the financial situation”, the society said.

Meanwhile, the home had difficulty in recruiting staff and had to rely heavily on more expensive agency staff, while compliance costs also continue to rise.

Compounding this, the area flooded in 2007 and again in February 2020, inundating the house’s cellars.

While residents were able to remain during this more recent occasion, the water caused the lift to stop working for over five months, putting significant stress on residents, extra workload on staff and further strain on the home’s financial position.

The central heating and hot water system are also antiquated and need replacing at considerable further expense.

The house currently has 33 residents’ bedrooms, only five of which have en-suite facilities, and short of the 50 rooms which the application says is necessary to make such a facility viable.

It lies in 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres) of grounds, including a walled garden.

An attempt last year to sell the home to a local resident as a going concern eventually fell through as the buyer was unable to secure the necessary finance.

Now it is being sold to a private buyer on the basis that it is returned to its original use as a family home, including “removal of the more recent unsympathetic extensions”, to the benefit of the conservation area in which it lies, according to the application.

The property was marketed at offers more than £1 million but no longer appears to be on the market.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to form “a new charity or trust”, the society said.