NOOK and CORNERS
AGE UK, which is facing demands to hand over a Regency villa in the Devon town of Salcombe to another charity rather than sell it, warns that any new owner would face the same huge bills for works to the grade 2*-listed building.
Woodcot, which has much-loved clifftop gardens visible from Salcombe harbour, was given to a local charity, the Plymouth Guild, decades ago by its former owner Elizabeth Jennings. It was divided into small flats to be used as affordable homes for older people. It later passed to Help the Aged, one of the charities that merged into Age UK.
Age UK mooted the possibility of selling the grand property this summer, prompting petitions and furious press articles about the betrayal of elderly residents and fears the villa may be redeveloped. Criticisms include both that current residents could be booted out and that the charity hasn’t been taking on new residents, so threatening Woodcot’s viability.