A former care home at the centre of one of Kent\u2019s deadliest Covid outbreaks has been put up for sale for almost \u00a32 million.<\/p>\n
Pelham House in Folkestone closed its doors in 2023 after bosses said a \u201cperfect storm of unfortunate circumstances\u201d left the business financially crippled in the years following the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Pelham House care home in Folkestone closed in 2023<\/p>\n
Now, the 22-bed site in Pelham Gardens is being marketed with \u201csignificant scope for redevelopment\u201d – or even the possibility of reopening as a care facility once again.<\/p>\n
The home became nationally known during the pandemic after losing 10 of its 20 residents to Covid-19 in just 10 days in May 2020.<\/p>\n
Its devastating ordeal later featured in a special edition of Panorama, while former manager Roger Waluube also advised on Channel 4\u2019s critically acclaimed Covid drama Help, starring Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.<\/p>\n
The outbreak at the home began after a 96-year-old resident returned from Ashford\u2019s William Harvey Hospital before receiving a Covid test result.<\/p>\n
Seventeen more residents later became infected, while nine staff members – including the manager and a cook – were either self-isolating or had tested positive.<\/p>\n
Pelham House care home in Folkestone was run by manager Roger Waluube<\/p>\n
In a statement released when the home announced its closure, operators Seacole\u2019s Ltd said the outbreak marked \u201cthe beginning of a series of events resulting in the current financial challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bosses said continued low occupancy levels, soaring utility bills and the loss of senior staff after the pandemic ultimately forced the care home to shut.<\/p>\n
This was despite residents having previously rallied to ensure its survival by raising almost \u00a310,000 to support it in the wake of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Last year, former manager Mr Waluube submitted plans to convert the building into a large HMO in a bid to \u201cbring new life\u201d to the site.<\/p>\n
However, the proposal was rejected by planners, who said insufficient evidence had been provided to justify the loss of a care home.<\/p>\n
Estate agents marketing the property now say the detached building presents an \u201cincreasingly rare opportunity\u201d in one of Folkestone\u2019s most sought-after locations.<\/p>\n
Pelham House in Folkestone is up for \u00a31.95 million. Picture: Rightmove<\/p>\n
The listing states: \u201cThis impressive property offers significant scope for redevelopment, or conversion, subject to the necessary planning consents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is also the possibility that the property could be re-established as a care home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agents say the site has a \u201csizeable and versatile footprint\u201d, having originally been formed from two detached houses merged into one building.<\/p>\n
The property has been listed with an asking price of \u00a31.95 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former care home at the centre of one of Kent\u2019s deadliest Covid outbreaks has been put up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,2556,59,192,191,194,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-576801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-folkestone","tag-gb","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-syndicate","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}