The 16.6-acre County Hall site on Spetchley Road is on the market. Council planners have backed 153 homes in principle, and offers close at noon on 12 November.

Worcestershire County Council has put its former headquarters on Spetchley Road up for sale. The 16.6-acre site has been empty since June 2024. Its sales brochure says Worcester City Council planners have responded positively to a scheme of 153 homes, and offers close at 12 noon on Thursday 12 November.

The council announced the sale on 1 October (Worcestershire County Council). Property firm Savills is handling it.

What is being sold

The marketing particulars set out the site (Savills for Worcestershire County Council, PDF):

  • about 16.6 acres (6.7 hectares) in the Nunnery area, about two miles south east of the city centre
  • County Hall itself, about 228,324 sq ft over four storeys, opened in 1976
  • the Records Office (13,756 sq ft) and the Boiler House (5,759 sq ft)
  • landscaped grounds with lawns, mature planting and two linked ponds that form part of the site’s drainage

The car park to the north is not for sale. The county is keeping it for staff working at Wildwood Business Park “in the short to medium term”.

Offers can be “subject to planning”, or unconditional. Bids for only part of the site will also be considered.

Why it is empty

The main roofs of County Hall are made from Siporex planks of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), the lightweight concrete behind the 2023 school closures. Only the Council Chamber roof is not. The council says replacing the roofs, removing asbestos and refurbishing the building was “uneconomic” (County Hall disposal FAQs, PDF).

Timeline of the County Hall sale. September 2023: RAAC guidance issued and upper floors closed. June 2024: building vacated. February 2025: Cabinet declares it surplus. July 2025: disposal agreed in principle. October 2025: Cabinet authorises the sale. 1 October 2026: site goes on the market. 12 November 2026, noon: deadline for offers.
How County Hall went from headquarters to sale. Sources: Worcestershire County Council County Hall page, Cabinet decision records 14/2025 and 21/2025, Savills particulars. Graphic by The Worcester Times
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The record runs like this (Worcestershire County Council, County Hall):

  • September 2023: after government RAAC guidance, the upper floors were closed.
  • June 2024: the building was vacated. Staff moved to Wildwood Business Park and other council buildings.
  • February 2025: Cabinet agreed County Hall was surplus to need.
  • 17 July 2025: Cabinet agreed the sale in principle and released £1.875m from reserves to empty and decommission the site (decision record 14/2025, PDF).
  • 23 October 2025: Cabinet authorised the sale (decision record 21/2025, PDF).
  • August 2026: the statutory notice on losing the open space was published.
  • 1 October 2026: the site went on the market.

What could be built

Nothing has been decided, and any buyer would need planning permission from Worcester City Council. But the brochure gives a strong steer.

The county held pre-application talks with the city’s planners and its own highways team before marketing. According to the particulars, that advice:

  • supports demolition and redevelopment, as the site is mostly brownfield
  • finds “residential-led redevelopment” acceptable in principle
  • responded positively to an indicative layout of 153 homes on a net developable area of about 10.5 acres
  • says the site could also suit healthcare, care and specialist housing

The site is not allocated for any use in the South Worcestershire Development Plan Review, adopted on 26 March 2026. The building is not listed and is not in a conservation area. Only the ponds are designated, as amenity greenspace.

Councillor Adam Kent, the county’s deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said selling assets “no longer required helps us make the best use of public resources”. He added that the council faces “significant financial pressures driven by demand in adults and children’s social care”.

Could the NHS have it?

The site borders Worcester Woods Country Park and sits a short distance from Worcestershire Royal Hospital, so the question keeps coming up. The council’s FAQ answers it directly. It says the site is being “marketed openly”, and that planning advice notes possible healthcare use.

The same point was made at Cabinet a year ago. The minutes of 23 October 2025 record the cabinet member for finance saying that “as part of the marketing of the site the NHS would have the opportunity to say if they could use the site” (Cabinet minutes, 23 October 2025). In other words, the NHS can bid, but it gets no first refusal.

Separately, the county said on 2 October that it is in “active discussions” with NHS partners about a Community Diagnostics Centre for Worcestershire. Shrub Hill Quarter, near Shrub Hill station, is one of several locations being looked at (Worcestershire County Council). County Hall is not named in that announcement.

Not a school

A new secondary school on the site was costed and rejected. The same 23 October 2025 Cabinet heard a four-form-entry school there would cost an estimated £43.1 million, with traffic problems as Nunnery Wood High School is 0.4 miles away. A special school was also considered and found unaffordable. We covered what replaced the plan in our report on the dropped new Worcester secondary school.

The park, the parkrun and the buses

The FAQ settles several local worries:

  • Worcester Woods Country Park is outside the sale boundary and “will remain available to the public”.
  • Worcester Woods parkrun: the council says the sale “does not, in itself, bring an end” to it, but future arrangements depend on what a developer proposes.
  • Buses: the council intends to keep rights so existing services can run through the site.
  • Footpaths, the ponds and the wildflower areas: no decisions yet. The council says it “may consider” covenants to protect wildlife areas.
  • Access from Spetchley Road: not decided. The road through the site is private and is included in the sale.

Who decides, and when

There is no further public vote on the sale itself. Cabinet delegated the rest in October 2025. The county’s Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure, with the cabinet member for finance, will choose the preferred bidder, agree terms and complete the sale.

The council has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably obtainable. It can weigh economic, environmental and social benefits alongside the money.

The public’s formal say on the open space has also passed. The FAQ says the Section 123 consultation, which ran from August, “has already taken place”. The next chance to comment will come if a buyer applies for planning permission.

What it means for you

  • If you live in Nunnery or off Spetchley Road: the most likely outcome is housing. There is no planning application yet. When one arrives, it will appear on the city council’s register, and we will report it. Our Worcester planning applications page explains how to find and comment on one.
  • If you use Worcester Woods: the country park is not being sold. The parkrun route and the grounds paths are the parts to watch in any future scheme.
  • If you were hoping for a hospital or school use: the site is open to any bidder, including the NHS, until noon on 12 November. There is no reserved route for either.

We will report who the council picks once a preferred bidder is named.

Sources