From the National Trust for Jersey:
The National Trust for Jersey has sold La Ronce in St Ouen in order to secure funding for the much-needed repair and maintenance of two other historic properties.
La Ronce – a 17th century cottage in Route de Trodez – was purchased by the Trust in 1987. The property’s historic significance was subsequently conserved by an extensive programme of repair and refurbishment.
The Trust had previously considered selling the property, both ten years ago and prior to the recent pandemic, but due to a range of circumstances it remained on the open rental market. However, following an unsolicited offer of £1.5m from a local family last year, and after much deliberation, the Trust’s Council decided to accept the offer, with the proceeds to be used to refurbish La Vallette in St John and Les Côtils Farm in St Helier.
Charles Alluto, CEO of The National Trust for Jersey stated: ‘The Trust was established to deliver permanent protection for areas of natural beauty and historic interest for the benefit of our island. We have successfully delivered this for La Ronce, both through investment and restrictive covenants protecting its external appearance and historic significance.
‘However, the time has come to move on and release significant equity to reinvest in some of the historic buildings generously gifted to us which, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the donors, will be retained by the Trust permanently.
‘To fulfil our role as an active conservation organisation we need to focus our attention on those historic buildings still in need of protection and repair. Both our existing repair backlog and the forthcoming buildings at risk register being collated by Jersey Heritage will illustrate that the Trust still has much work to do.’
2 Responses
It’s such a shame that we couldn’t have found a benefactor who would hold on trust the property and rented it. Money to be put back into the property which would have sealed the beautiful property for future generations.
I find this sale deeply concerning. In my view it should have been tested, including all the restricted covenants , on the open market. £1.5 million, at today’s prices seems shockingly cheap for such a property.