Overview
- A two-day High Court trial is scheduled for September 29–30, 2026, to decide whether Hopwood DePree met the terms to take over Grade II-listed Hopwood Hall.
- Rochdale Borough Council ended the partnership in November 2024 and locked the site, saying he failed to deliver a viable business plan and that it must safeguard public money.
- DePree argues a 2017 agreement gave him the right to buy the hall for £1 once planning permission was secured, and he says he has filed about 1,500 pages of evidence.
- Planning permission to convert the estate into an events and hospitality venue was granted in 2022, with DePree citing about £750,000 in personal spending and years of volunteer work.
- The council says it has invested almost £1.7 million with public bodies to repair and protect the building and is considering other routes for the 15th-century site linked to Guy Fawkes and Lord Byron.