Derelict clock tower site in Northampton with plans for 235 homes goes up for sale for £5 million

The long-abandoned housing development on the former St Crispin’s Hospital site has been put up for sale.

The land at St Christopher’s Square, off Berrywood Road, is being marketed by estate agents Sell New Group for offers over £5 million.

According to the sales brochure, planning consent covers the demolition, restoration and construction of up to 235 homes, with around 207 still yet to be built.

The site, which includes the well-known clock tower, has been left largely undeveloped for years despite planning permission being granted in 2017. While a small number of homes have been completed and sold, much of the former hospital grounds remain untouched.

Sell New Group says in its brochure that the planning consent allows for a mix of houses, flats and the conversion of historic buildings across the site. This includes the 40-metre Clock Tower, approved for restoration and conversion to residential use, and the former administration building, also approved for apartments.

The approved plans allow for 98 houses and 137 apartments. According to the agents, plots numbered 75 to 102 have already been completed and sold, which they say shows demand for homes on the site.

In the sales brochure, the agents describe the land as one of the town’s “most significant regeneration opportunities”.

A Sell New Group spokesman said: “Set within the historic grounds of the former St Crispin's Hospital, this substantial development opportunity represents one of Northampton's most significant and commercially compelling regeneration prospects. Few sites in the region combine heritage assets, scale, enabling works, approved planning and proven market demand in such a coordinated and deliverable form.

“With approximately 207 units remaining, the opportunity now lies in delivering the most prestigious and architecturally prominent elements of the scheme – including the Clock Tower conversion, Administration Building apartments, principal new apartment blocks overlooking the cricket pitch and the flanking townhouse quadrants. This is a rare near-turnkey regeneration site with a clear, buildable path forward.

“For a commercial land buyer or residential developer, the proposition is compelling. This is not merely a residential scheme – it is a major regeneration project poised to become one of Northampton's signature residential neighbourhoods.”

The brochure also says that two underground car parks have already been excavated and that around 50 percent of the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 payments have already been paid, which Sell New Group says reduces early costs for a new buyer.

The former St Crispin’s Hospital site has a long and troubled history. Irish firm WN Developments bought the land in 2009 and announced plans to redevelop it into housing. Despite a major fire damaging part of the hospital in 2014, planning permission was later granted to demolish ward blocks, restore the clock tower and build hundreds of new homes.

However, progress has been slow. In January 2024, residents told the Chronicle & Echo they were frustrated by the lack of development, seven years after planning permission was approved.

Local resident Michael Boulden, who runs the Facebook page Save St Crispin’s clock tower, previously said he was worried the landmark structure could fall into disrepair if work continued to stall.