THE hailed redevelopment of the Woolmead shopping precinct in Farnham could face a lengthy delay, after rumours of the building’s impending sale began circulating this week.

Long-time owners Friends Life Ltd are believed to have accepted an offer for the freehold of the much-maligned concrete structure in East Street from Surrey-based property investors The Berkeley Group.

It comes after Friends Life secured outline planning consent to demolish the existing shopping block and replace it with new mix of shops, restaurants and up to 96 flats in July last year.

Waverley Borough Council, which gave its unanimous approval to the outline plans, is currently awaiting a detailed ‘reserved matters’ application from the building’s owners.

However, after councillors requested the developer return with a “higher quality” proposal at the detailed planning stage, it seems Friends Life has opted to offload the project to a new owner.

If the sale goes through, the Woolmead’s new owners will have until October 5, 2019, to submit their detailed scheme to the planning authority or else start again from scratch.

News of the sale was corroborated by several Herald sources, but neither the reported new owners or Friends Life’s agents BMO REP would comment.