Agent appointed to oversee Holloway prison homes sale worth billions
Experts estimate the Holloway Prison site would be worth �2billion as housing - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima
The days when people will be paying to live in Holloway Prison, rather than being forced to, came one step closer after the Ministry of Justice appointed property agent Bilfinger GVA to advise on the sale of the site.
Holloway Prison in north London. - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima
Experts expect that up to 5,000 homes could be built on the land on Parkhurst Road, N7, which it is estimated could net as much as £2billion for developers.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We have reached an agreement with an agent for the sale of the HMP Holloway site. We will work to get the best possible value for the taxpayer.”
Islington estate agent Currell told the Evening Standard properties in the area are now fetching between £450,000 and £550,000, meaning the project’s end value could be around £2.25 billion.
Chief executive Anne Currell said: “Large sites in zone two locations are hard to come by, with most having already been developed, so it is likely to be a lucrative venture for the right developer.”
Superstitious buyers need not apply given the role call of notorious former inhabitants and the five executions that took place on the site.
Well-known Holloway inmates have included hunger striking suffragettes; Mitford sister Diana Mosley, who was imprisoned during World War Two for her support of Hitler; and the economist Vicky Pryce, who accepted speeding points from her ex-husband, politician Chris Huhne.
Infamous murderers Myra Hindley and Rose West were also detained at the north London prison, while Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK was hanged on the site.
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The prison closure was announced by George Osborne in his last autumn statement as part of a raft of changes to the prison system.
Holloway was the biggest women’s prison in western Europe with capacity for 501 inmates but the first prisoners were moved to HMP Downview in Surrey at the start of May.
