Council will consider sale of former care home in Abbots Langley

WHETHER – or not – to sell off a former care home in Abbots Langley is to be considered by Hertfordshire county councillors.

The county council-owned Margaret House had been operated as a 51-bed care home by a private company.

But in October 2020 it closed due to concerns about the quality of the accommodation.

And since then the property – which could be sold for up to £3m – has remained vacant and disused.

On Friday (December 1) the future of the building will be considered by a meeting of the council’s resources and performance cabinet panel.

According to a report by council officers, the site would need ‘significant capital expenditure’ to be used for ‘service purposes’.

And without a reason to retain the site, the report suggests the ‘only realistic option’ is to dispose of it.

The council’s own development subsidiary Herts Living Limited (HLL) has already drawn-up plans for 27 new homes on the land.

Those plans would include four two-bed houses and six three-bed houses, as well as 11 one-bed flats, six two-bed flats.

And they have already been submitted for consideration to the planning authority, Three Rivers District Council.

According to the officers’ report to the panel, negotiations for the possible sale of the site to HLL are ‘underway’ – with plans to take the sale ‘to market’ if those negotiations are unsuccessful.

Ultimately a decision on the future of the site will be made by a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Monday (December 4).

But that meeting will take into account recommendations made by the performance and resources cabinet panel.

At the meeting it will be reported to councillors that since the closure of the Margaret House Care Home a new care facility has been opened at Wormley.

And it will be reported that there is a further 75-bed facility currently under construction, at South Oxhey.