US actor Hopwood DePree is taking legal action against a UK council in an attempt to gain ownership of his 500-year-old ancestral home.
Hopwood Hall in Middleton, Greater Manchester, has become the centre of a High Court challenge after Mr DePree accused Rochdale Borough Council (RBC) of breaking an agreement made eight years ago.
In court documents, Mr DePree claimed that RBC “seemed to desperately want rid of” the hall, which had fallen into dereliction since the council took ownership in the late 1980s.
This led to an agreement in July 2017 whereby Mr DePree could buy the property for £1 as long as he got planning permission.
He said this was granted in October 2022 for the hall to be used for “events, hospitality, tours, education, cafe and shop”.
But the actor said that in November last year, RBC locked him and his team of volunteers out of the building and has since refused to transfer ownership of the property.
Mr DePree claims RBC has broken their legal agreement by saying that he must get planning permission for physical works, but did not specify this previously.
In a witness statement, he said: “It was never my understanding that any physical works would be required that would require planning permission of a different type, nor that listed building consent would be part of this process.”
An RBC spokesperson declined to comment on current legal proceedings but pointed to a statement from November which said the council had decided not to extend the length of the agreement because a “viable business case and funding strategy has not been forthcoming”.
It also said RBC has invested £1.7 million into the building and is acting “to protect the public monies invested to date”.
Mr DePree said more than £500,000 earmarked for renovation had been lost because of RBC’s delays and that the morale of his team is “extremely low”.
He wants a High Court judge to declare that he has fulfilled his obligations under the agreement and is therefore entitled to ownership.
In his witness statement, he said: “I would not have given up my life in the US, left my family and friends behind, to move to a new country and invest my personal savings if physical works permissions and listed building approvals had been part of the obligation before I owned Hopwood Hall.”
He said that at the time of the agreement in 2017, the Grade II*-listed building was predicted to become ruinous within five to 10 years.
It was built in the 1420s by his ancestors, who lived there for 500 years before the property fell out of the family’s ownership because its heirs were killed in the First World War, he added.
When Mr DePree learned of the hall in 2013, he became concerned about its dereliction and committed himself to restoring it, he said in court documents.
He continued: “From the moment I first entered Hopwood Hall in 2013 I was immediately inspired.
“Even though it was in a derelict state, I could see its beauty, history and spirit.
“It felt like a place that could be resurrected and reopened to the community with visitors being able to join us from near and afar.”
Mr DePree added that he was “shocked at the behaviour” of RBC, which he claimed had “never explained to me why they decided to withdraw” from the agreement.
