A COLCHESTER organisation is hunting for a new home after the office it shares was listed for more than £1million.

It was recently revealed that the 100-year-old charity Lepra has put its office space at the Octagon complex, in Middleborough, on Rightmove for £1,675,000 freehold.

The charity was founded in 1924 and works to diagnose treat and rehabilitate people who have leprosy, an infection that can lead to damage to nerves, skin and eyes.

The charity has been based in Colchester since 1974 and now wants to downsize its office space because more people are working from home following the pandemic.

The three-storey property has an open plan layout and an internal space of 8,478sq ft and is also home to Citizens Advice Colchester.

Office - LepraOffice - Lepra (Image: Newsquest) The 85-year-old independent charity has been based at the large Lepra office since 2021 but is now having to look for a new space given Lepra is planning to downscale.

hard workers - the Citizens Advice Colchester teamhard workers - the Citizens Advice Colchester team (Image: Sarah Strutt) Lepra chief executive Jimmy Innes said: “Lepra is proud of its links with the Citizens Advice Colchester.

“With our office now on the market for sale, we sadly acknowledge that this will likely have implications for the future location of their office base, and we informed them of our plans before the office was put up for sale.

“The future will depend in part on the timing of any sale, and the intentions of any new owners, and we are still a number of months away from any sale being completed.

“In the meantime, we continue to liaise with the Citizens Advice Colchester to offer as much ongoing support as we can to their vital service for the people of Colchester.”

Bev Perkins, chief officer at Citizens Advice Colchester has confirmed that Lepra informed the charity of their plans to market the building some months ago, long before they were contractually obliged to”.

​She said: “Since then, we have engaged with property agents and partners from the third sector in Colchester to find suitable premises.

“Having considered several accessible locations, we are currently in negotiations to secure suitable premises.

“We are therefore confident that we will continue 'to support and empower the people of Colchester to deal with life's challenges' for many years to come.