Written question asked by Peter Viggers (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 29 January 2010. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 February 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Royal Hospital Haslar

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what price was the Royal Hospital Haslar site sold and to whom; what the acreage of the site sold is; how many houses, flats and other buildings are on the sold site; what due diligence was undertaken prior to the sale; what undertakings were obtained from the prospective purchasers prior to the sale; what other offers and indications of interest were received for the site; what the monetary value of the site was on his Department's accounts prior to the sale; and what limitations and covenants were placed on the site at the time of sale.

Answer: [holding answer 29 January 2010]: The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport, which extends to some 23 hectares and comprises around 75,000 square metres of buildings, was sold to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd. in November 2009 for £3 million. The hon. Member will recall he met with me to discuss the proposals before the sale.An Expressions of Interest campaign for the Haslar site was undertaken by Defence Estates in early 2009 and a number of bids were received by the closing date of 3 July. the details of which are confidential, for commercial reasons. The other bids were rejected either on grounds of insufficient detail regarding redevelopment plans for the site, the low level of the offer, or both. Prior to the sale the site was included on the Asset Registers of the Department at some £55 million based on the depreciated replacement cost of the site in its current usage. Such valuations are undertaken for accounting purposes, and are not the same as a market valuation undertaken for disposal.Additionally discussions took place with Our Enterprise, with regard to the consortium's financial status and intentions toward the site's heritage assets, memorial garden and future maintenance. No limitations or covenants were placed on the site at the time of sale.

Secondary information