138 acre former Pestalozzi site near Hastings for sale

The former Pestalozzi International Village in Sedlescombe, near Battle, which covers 138 acres, is being sold off by present owners, PGL Travel Ltd.

Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has been instructed to sell the site on behalf of PGL.

Pestalozzi was a children’s educational and residential establishment which attracted children from around the world for more than 60 years until it was acquired by PGL in 2019.

The site includes a range of former residential and educational buildings, together with a lake, surrounded by former sports pitches and agricultural land.

Christie & Co said Pestalozzi’s permitted planning use is as an educational and residential institution and there is an existing consent which would allow for the development of a further 2,922 sq m of accommodation on site. It added the site may have potential for a variety of healthcare and education related uses.

Anthony Jones, CEO of PGL, said: “Following a review, we have decided to dispose of the Pestalozzi site in order to focus our investment plans elsewhere.”

In 2021 proposals by PGL to create a children’s activity centre at the site were unanimously refused by Rother planners. The committee raised concerns around the impact on the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Jon Patrick, head of leisure and development at Christie & Co, said: “Opportunities to bring to market estates at the scale of Pestalozzi are exceptionally rare. The amount of current on-site accommodation, as well as the opportunity to extend this under existing planning permission, will appeal to a wide range of potential purchasers within the leisure, health and wellbeing and tourism industries, along with residential developers and we anticipate the site will generate significant interest.”

Jordan Rundle, director - healthcare development and investment at Christie & Co, said: “Affluence levels are strong within the catchment area and the site is situated close to the densely populated elderly demographics of Hastings, Bexhill, and Eastbourne. As such, this former C2 use residential institution may have potential to create a specialist care facility, or idyllic retirement village community set within extensive grounds, and we look forward to marketing this opportunity to our national network of buyers.”