Land that once housed a community centre looks set to be sold off to a private housing developer by Slough Borough Council for more than £3 million.

The land is to the south of Haybrook College, and is where the Haymill Centre stood until it was demolished in 2015.

The council had hoped to build housing there as part of a joint regeneration company with property developers Morgan Sindall.

But after going bankrupt the council had to abandon the plans and begin selling off the land it once hoped would become affordable housing estates. Council plans say the site will be sold for a price ‘in line’ with its value of £5 million.

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Slough Borough Council says it has owned the land ‘for many years’ and was used as a community centre shared with Haybrook College Trust until 2013.

The demolition took place in 2015 to help the college – which educates children with social emotional and mental health needs – expand on the north of the site.

The council hoped to use the remainder of the site to build affordable housing – one of many projects by Slough Urban Renewal, a joint venture with developers Morgan Sindall. The site now has no buildings on it and has been used to keep vehicles by Slough Community Transport.

But when Slough Borough Council went effectively bankrupt in 2021, council leaders agreed that the Urban Renewal company should be wound up.

They decided in September last year that sites it had hoped to develop itself would have to be sold off, with the benefit of planning permission for housing already in place.

Now council officers say they have found a developer that wants to buy the Haymill site to build an estate of some 33 homes. Ten of these homes are to be marketed as ‘affordable housing’ and 23 of them will be a mix of two and four bed homes sold at market rates.

Plans for the homes were submitted for planning permission by Slough Urban Renewal in December 2023 and granted approval in July this year, increasing the value of the site. Council plans say the developer that plans to buy the site intends to deliver this scheme.

The name of the purchaser and the total amount it the land is to be sold for are being kept confidential by the council. But council documents say the amount the council expects to earn from the sale is ‘in line’ with a recent valuation of £5,148,000.

The site was put up for sale for bids in excess of £3.5 million – ‘some way below’ the value – to encourage ‘competitive interest’ from bidders. After offers from 13 bidders, council officers have chosen a buyer that made an offer ‘in excess of the £3.5 million guide'.

Details of all the offers made and the reasons for the council’s decision are also being kept confidential.

Councillors on the asset sales committee are being asked to consider the sale at a meeting on Thursday, October 17.