Cane Hill sold for housing

9:17am Friday 16th April 2004

The former Cane Hill Hospital site is to be sold in a deal to create thousands of new homes.

Cane Hill is one of around 100 surplus NHS sites to be transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott by the Department of Health.

The land will be used to tackle housing shortages and create 5,000 homes for key workers across the 100 sites.

Last week's announcement has ended the uncertainty surrounding the site in Coulsdon.

South London and Maudsley NHS Trust has a 23-bed medium secure unit on the hospital site. Plans to sell off the surplus land at the site through a public private partnership were terminated last month following Government intervention.

A SLaM spokesman said the trust had no plans to move from Cane Hill and was waiting to see what the implications of the proposals would be.

Andrew Pelling, Greater London Assembly member for Croydon and Sutton, welcomed the move saying the site had been under-utilised for far too long.

He said: "There is certainly strong support in the community for housing, including affordable housing, for the next generation of Coulsdon residents as well as support from local traders for the extra business that more housing will bring into the town centre that will be rejuvenated by the building of the Couldon inner relief road.

"However, we want much more than just a housing estate built on Cane Hill. We want an imaginative approach and the creation of a balanced community."

Money raised from the sale of the sites will be reinvested into the NHS to improve services.