New flats at former council HQ unveiled

First time buyers were joined by property investors and other house hunters at the launch event, which was hosted on Saturday at the Capitol Theatre on North Street, next door to the building, which remains under development.

The turnout delighted Peter Maskell, director of Brock Taylor on East Street, which is marketing the multi-million development.

He said: “We had hundreds of people through the door, who were a mixture of locals and investors coming into the area.

“The interest was a little bit to do with it being the former council offices but mainly because of the location. Horsham is very popular because of its proximity to London and because it is a very nice place to live.”

The development, which is now known as Holmes Park, is being done in two stages and on Saturday, the first 60 properties out of the 102 which will eventually be available were released onto the housing market.

The doors of several fully furnished ground floor show homes were opened up to visitors and Mr Maskell said that 24 properties, worth a combined £5 million, were reserved on the day.

The properties are covered by the Help to Buy scheme, the Government-run initiative, which aims to support the national housing market.

The scheme is open to first time buyers and certain people looking to buy new properties worth under £600,000.

Mr Maskell was encouraged by the number of first time buyers who attended the open day, some of whom attended with their parents and said that a property could be secured with a deposit from would-be buyers of as little as £8,500.

Horsham District Council vacated the offices three years ago and moved across the road to County Hall North to share with West Sussex County Council. The property was sold in a multi-million pound deal and was developed by the company Brick Mort. The prices of apartments range from £170,000 for a studio flat to £340,000 for a two bedroom property.

Mr Maskell said that the open day had served as a trip down memory for some visitors. He said: “We had a number of people of who worked at the offices. Somebody has bought one apartment and his mother told me that it was near the office she used to work in.”