The Cabinet Office has sold 70-acre Sunningdale Park in Berkshire to Berkeley Homes and Audley Retirement.
The site, which until 2012 was home to the National School of Government, has been sold subject to planning permission being granted for a residential and retirement scheme.
Sunningdale Park includes 209,896 sq ft of existing accommodation, including Northcote House, a Grade II listed neo-Georgian mansion, training accommodation with associated lecture theatres, residential accommodation and sports facilities.
The north-west of the site, totalling approximately 13 acres, has been designated as suitable for redevelopment, with the remaining space given over to parkland.
Berkeley Homes and Audley Retirement are working up their proposals for the site. Plans will be on display to Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead residents in 2017.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Ben Gummer said: “The sale of Sunningdale Park shows our absolute commitment to shrinking the government estate so that it works in the best interests of the taxpayer.”
He added: “The estate is now almost 25% smaller than it was in May 2010 we continue to re-examine all our property contracts and holdings to make sure that the taxpayer is always at the front and centre of our property outlook.”
The site has been government owned since 1947 when it was offered in lieu of tax duties by the family of previous owner Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, president of the British-American tobacco Company and chairman of Cunliffe Owen.
It subsequently became home to the Civil Defence Staff College and has been used by a number of government organisations, including the Civil Service College and National School of Government, until 2014, at which point the College of Policing occupied it on a temporary basis.
Gerald Eve advised the Cabinet Office; Berkeley Homes and Audley Retirement were unrepresented.
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