University of Leicester to sell buildings to invest in gardens

Plans include a bid for funding to restore an empty building on site and turn it into a cafe

A number of buildings are to be sold off by the University of Leicester to help fund investment elsewhere.

Accommodation blocks in Stoughton Drive South, Oadby, which the university said need "long-term investment", will be put up for sale.

Some of the money raised will go towards the 16-acre botanic gardens in Glebe Road.

A spokesman said the university was committed to the area and would also invest in other accommodation nearby.

The buildings to be sold include Digby House, Inglewood, Highgrove, Hastings House and the Meadowcourt Blocks, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Invest in quality'

The botanic garden opened in the 1920s and moved to its present site in Oadby in 1947.

It features a wide variety of plants, woodland, gardens and a series of glasshouses displaying temperate and tropical plants. The site is free to enter, seven days a week.

Kirsty Woodward, the university's director of estates and campus services said: "While all of our properties are compliant with safety regulations, some are now in need of greater long-term investment.

"The focus of our plans is to invest in quality, with disposal of a small number of properties, in order to reinvest in our remaining 1,600 bed space accommodation in Oadby, the botanic garden and our estate as a whole."

There is also a planned bid for Levelling Up funding from the government would be used to reopen a derelict building called The Knoll in the garden to provide a cafe.