THCH confirm final bid for Haven House

The trustees of THCH have reported that:

We have today confirmed our bid to HCC for Haven House. It repeats our bid of 14 September of £200,000 plus a 'peppercorn rent' for use of the existing visitor reception, shop and Room 12 for staff and admin. You may recall that HCC have indicated they do not wish to accept that offer and instead wish to adhere to their plan of a new building for visitor reception and staff facilities in the back yard, but as yet we have seen no plans for that.

As requested by HCC, we have

1. Set out the community benefits we believe will be achieved if Haven House is used as a community hub: this in effect repeats what was set out in our 13 June business plan, in our application for the Community Ownershup Fund and in the application when Haven House was approved by FBC as an asset of community value on 11 November last year. We have emphasised the potential value to HCC of our plans in terms of benefits for adult social services and children's services. We have also quoted the relevant legislation which allows a local authority to dispose of an asset at less than 'best consideration' if it 'will help it secure the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of its area'.

2. Set out our strategy for raising the funds necessary for both the purchase of Haven House and the repair and refurbishment work. This will be from a combination of grant funding, donations and community shares. Again, this is much as was set out in our 14 September bid and we are extremely grateful for our supporters for confirming their commitment. We have asked HCC for three months to raise the funds - from the point at which they accept our offer for Haven House! - by way of direct appeals and crowd funding for donations and the issue of a prospectus for community shares.

Meanwhile, as you will know, Haven House has been on the market for four weeks. As far as we are aware, there have as yet been no offers. It is likely to remain on the market for at least another two to three weeks.

We will keep you posted!