Close Brothers Property Finance funds £24m redevelopment of Grade II listed blind veterans UK hospital

By Bridging Loan Directory 17th March 2025

Close Brothers Property Finance has agreed a £24million loan with the James Taylor Homes Group and HGP to redevelop the headquarters of the Blind Veterans UK charity.

The site is an iconic Grade II listed training and rehabilitation centre in Ovingdean, East Sussex.

The building, originally constructed in the 1930s, was the first purpose-built rehabilitation centre for vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women.

It was designed to resemble a plane from the air, so it was visible to the RAF pilots flying overhead.

In 2021, Blind Veterans UK announced their intention to move to a more modern and suitable facility in Rustington, on the beach, which gives members “much more opportunity and independence”, according to the charity.

The listed building will be sensitively renovated to create 64 spacious, beachfront two- and three-bedroom apartments.

The 20m indoor swimming pool will be retained, and there will also be a state-of-the-art onsite gym and communal cinema room, which can be hired by residents.

A number of original features will also be retained, such as the Braille handrail on the main staircase. Externally the gardens, which were designed by a Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medallist, will be retained and restored and there is a private walkway from the building to the beach, which will also be retained for residents’ use.

Daniel Joyce, Deputy Managing Director at Close Brothers Property Finance, comments:

“James Taylor Homes Group and the Housing Growth Partnership are the perfect partners to be entrusted to sensitively breathe new life into this iconic and historical building.

We have worked with Emil and the team at the James Taylor Homes Group for over 10 years, seeing the business flourish and grow during that time, and are very proud to have been able to support them on that journey.

This is a unique and very exciting site – I’m not surprised to see that they already have a queue of prospective buyers, there will be nothing else like this on the market in that area.”

Emil Sohrab, CEO of the James Taylor Homes Group, comments:

“These development opportunities do not come up very often and as soon as I saw the building I could see its incredible potential.

While the redesign was not without its challenges, the apartments will be very spacious, averaging 1,800 square feet, with fantastic facilities and the beach on your doorstep.

This kind of building demands the very best in terms of restoration and we wanted to make sure that there were no delays once planning was secured, which is why we came to Close Brothers.

They have always provided the very best service, making quick decisions and always delivering, which is exactly what you need when developing these high-profile schemes.”

Prices for the apartments range from £350,000 to £1.5million and are expected to launch this May.