Description
REQUEST FOR BIDS - SUBJECT TO CONTRACT 5pm FRIDAY 31st JULY 2026
A rare opportunity to purchase this freehold property located in Central Hove with a prominent position on Cambridge Road. Having previously been occupied by Riverside Homeless Charity, the southern side of the building has been fitted out with 24 individual bedroom units on the first & second floors, with bathrooms and shower rooms. There are larger shared spaces for offices, lounges and kitchens on each floor. On the northern side, the building is presented as a large double height, open plan space used for worship. Features include many stained glass windows, intricate stone masonry, and various staircases up to offices on the first and second floors. There are signs of water ingress and deterioration, and the church has been unoccupied for some time.
Location
The building is situated close to Western Road, a busy bus route and a good secondary retail location. Brunswick Square gardens and Hove seafront are to the south and St Ann's Wells Gardens to the north. Nearby traders include Wolfox Coffee, Real Patisserie, The Old Market Theatre, Archipelagos Greek Restaurant, Co-op and Waitrose.
Terms
Offers are invited on the freehold interest. A guide price is not provided. Instead, interested parties are invited to present an offer, subject to contract, accompanied with a summary of proposed future uses and plans.
Accommodation
Unmeasured, plans available.
History
St Patrick’s Church was built in 1857 and originally opened under the name of St James’ Church. The architect was Henry Edward Kendall Jr, who worked on the Knebworth Estate and had earlier designed the Sussex County Lunatic Asylym (later St Francis Hospital) in Haywards Heath.
The church is designed in Early English Gothic style, with the use of Kentish ragstone with stone dressings under a slate main roof. An octagonal tower was started but never completed, leaving a stump in one corner. The interior consists of a chancel, side chapels, an aisled nave and a narthex to the south. The chancel, which features stenciling and paintings from the 1890s, is topped by a hammerbeam roof, and the roof of the nave has gabled clerestory windows. An organ built by Henry Willis & Sons was installed in 1865, but was moved from one of the side chapels to the wall of the tower about 40 years later.
The church was part converted into a homeless night shelter with hostel accommodation in 1987. The night hostel closed in 2012 and the hostel areas were used and managed by a homeless charity until recent times.
