Horse riding centre for disabled priced out of Teddington home

Park Lane Stables says it cannot pay the owner's revised asking price of £1.35m

A horse riding charity in south west London which works with disabled people is looking for a new home after being priced out of its current premises.

Park Lane Stables has been at its location in Teddington for 13 years.

But it has been forced to move to a new temporary location after the landlord decided to sell the stables.

After a fund-raising effort, the charity offered £840,000 for the stables but the landlord said its value was £1.35m and would not accept less.

Park Lane Stables, which is a Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) centre, said it arranged three valuations and the highest put the premises' value at £840,000.

It said, as a charity it could not legally pay more than that.

However, the owner said a separate valuation came to £1.35m and an offer of that amount was received.

The charity said when the decision to sell the premises was first taken in December 2020, the owner asked for £1m, but revised this up after the charity managed to raise about £1.35m.

The charity has been at its current location in Park Lane, Teddington, for 13 years

A spokesperson for Park Lane Stables said: "Thanks to the astonishing support of the public we now have the means to secure the charity's future and are now looking at alternative locations within the borough, to ensure we can maintain our RDA activities, keep accessibility easy for all our riders, and allow us to retain our colleagues and volunteers.

"We are confident we can do this but sad we have to leave our current home, which looks set to signal the end of at least 200 years of horses in central Teddington."

A spokesperson for the landlord said: "We are acutely aware of the importance of the service provided by Park Lane stables and the benefit of that work to the community.

"While we regret the personal circumstances that have forced us to seek new ownership for the stables, we will continue to work to seek an acceptable resolution for all parties involved, and remain committed to supporting the continued services on site whilst the situation is ongoing."

The charity will temporarily move to Manor Farm Stables in Petersham, in Richmond, on Tuesday.