Disused farmhouse sold off well above £250k asking price by Northampton Borough Council

The authority put Rectory Farmhouse, in Rectory Farm, under the hammer after its plans to make the derelict building an outreach sixth form centre fell through.

The farmhouse and its buildings such as the Barn – which is now the community centre – date back to 1843 and were taken on by the borough council in 1985 as part of a land transfer from Northampton Development Corporation.

The farmhouse, on Olden Road, has had a variety of uses within recent years including being used as part of the community centre, a pre-school which has since relocated into the community centre and a police out-station. But it has stood empty since 2018 and is currently boarded up.

Generating a capital receipt of £400,000 will provide a good boost to the council coffers, with the building only listed for between £250,000 and £275,000.

It is not yet known who the buyer is and what they plan to do with the farmhouse, but bidders were told: “The property is vacant and requires extensive modernisation and refurbishment and presents an ideal opportunity for change of use from the existing D1 planning use category having been used as offices and a nursery. The property has potential for residential use and stands in lawned grounds extending to in excess of half an acre.”

The neighbouring community centre meanwhile has undergone a £250,000 refurbishment, with a separate hall being built to meet growing demand.