Bid to raise £1m from derelict Stourbridge doctors' homes

Derelict doctors' houses will go up for auction as part of a bid to raise £1 million for a Black Country hospital trust.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust owns the properties in Ashdown Drive, Wordsley, Stourbridge.

They have been the target of vandal attacks since medics moved out up to five years ago. They were once used by staff from Wordsley Hospital before it was closed in 2005. Eight houses will going under the hammer at an auction held by estate agents Lex Allen next Thursday at 6.30pm.

All are three-bedroom semi-detached properties with guide prices ranging from £93,000 to £98,000.

They were originally part of a block of 19 homes in the road used by the NHS for staff accommodation.

A further four homes are being disposed of separately through private sales.

Lex Allen sales director Stewart Allcock today said the homes were in need of renovation.

"They were targeted by vandals a little over the years especially with the high prices of lead and metal at the moment," he said.

"We have had a lot of interest from people looking for their first homes or to buy them as an investment and I think they are perfect for this.

"We felt that going to auction with these properties was a good way from the hospital trust's point of view to get the best possible price for them."

Hospital trust chief executive Paula Clarke said: "Remedial upgrading work to tidy up 12 properties in Ashdown Drive has now been completed and the houses are up for sale.

"Properties in the drive have gone through basic work including drainage and making the houses secure and ready to sell.

"Four of the properties have had offers made on them on a best-and-final-offer basis."

The properties will go up for auction next Thursday at The Whittingham Inn on the A449 Kidderminster Road, near Kinver.

Wordsley Hospital started life as a workhouse in 1776 but it became a military hospital during the First World War.

It closed in 2005 when services were transferred to Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley. The Wordsley site is currently beings transformed into a housing development.