Willow House Elderly Persons Home still empty

The former Willow House Elderly Persons Home on Long Close Lane is still empty.
Willow House today

It is nearly 3 years since residents were moved out of the home and the Council put the site on the open market.

In a £3 million deal, the site was set to be sold for a 126 bed student accommodation development.

However there was a controversy regarding public access to land which had been used for occasional leisure purposes. Labour blocked the plans in November 2017.

A year earlier it had been decided to close the home.

Willow House sales particulars

Lack of progress in developing what is a prime site next to the City walls was criticised last October when there was no progress to be seen behind the security railings.

No planning application has been submitted for the redevelopment of the site which is registered with estate agents Sanderson Weatherall. The agents say that their clients would prefer an “unconditional offer”.

The area being offered for sale includes the disputed “informal leisure” land

The building and surrounding land is now becoming something of an eyesore.

This is unfortunate as it is visible fro the City walls.

Only a few hundred metres away, on the other side of the inner ring road, the vacant site next to the Barbican has become an even bigger eyesore.

Area of land available for sale

Prime York city centre redevelopment site still unused

The former Willow House elderly persons home on Long Close Lane, next to the Bar Walls, is still empty. The buildings, which are in reasonable condition, were abandoned by the Council in early 2017.

The site was slated for use as student flats following a successful planning application in October last year.

The site was then  subject to a wrangle about the use of, and continued access to, adjacent green space.

The security fencing makes a poor backdrop for the many visitors who walk along the adjacent walls.

Further down Long Moor Lane, highway officials have allowed  bushes  to completely block the public footpath; adding to the general impression of neglect in the area.

Willow House stands abandoned with no sign of redevelopment work starting.

Hedges completely block public footpath

£100 to park your car. Expensive neighbourhood