Stonyhurst sells picturesque £500k bunk house to fund renovation costs

Stonyhurst College, the historic Catholic independent school in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, is set to dispose of a £500,0000 bunk house it uses for visiting students and staff to support costs associated with refurbishment of the college.

The school uses bunk houses away from the school site for visiting students and staff, one of which can be found at Avenue Farm in Hurst Green had been on the market for £500,000, but was sold very quickly.

In 2014, a successful planning application saw the house change use from a normal dwelling to a house of multiple occupation for visitors to the school, but now a new application to revert to the old use has been accepted by Ribble Valley Council, which should see the sale finalised.

A planning statement said: “The site in question currently accommodates a two-storey, three-bedroom property which is currently in use as a bunk house. The property is currently owned and used solely by Stonyhurst College for the accommodation of visiting teaching staff and students.

“The use as a bunk house is no longer necessary or viable for the college due to the distance and accessibility of the property from the college building, and the need to carry out general refurbishment and redecoration of the interior. In light of the costs associated with refurbishment and the property’s unsuitability for use as intended, the property has therefore been marked with the intention to dispose of the building.

“A sale has been agreed; however, the prospective purchaser wishes to occupy the property as a single residential dwelling and therefore wishes to secure planning permission for changing the use of the building.”

The statement added no external alterations will be made to the building as part of the plans and the scale and appearance will remain as they currently do.

The property, which is listed as ‘sold subject to contract’ with Mortimers of Clitheroe, is described as a “undoubtedly one of the Ribble Valley’s best kept secrets … in a quiet, private position nestled away from the approach to the esteemed Stonyhurst College, the property affords both an exciting and exceedingly rare opportunity.”