An iconic slice of Marlow town centre is now up for grabs after Red Kite Community Housing put one of its most well-known sites on sale to developers.

Two plots near the High Street – including the New Court house and gardens off Liston Road - are being sold off.

The announcement came earlier this year and this week the plots were formally advertised to bidders with a closing date for offers in January.

The sale of the area will pay for new housing schemes “elsewhere in the area” according to Red Kite, which looks after social housing in the Wycombe district.

New Court House – built in the late 19th century as a private house – and its gardens form part of the sale.

The site was owned by the Liston family until Nesta Sybil Liston’s death in 1970, when she bequeathed the house and grounds to the then Urban District Council of Marlow.

Wycombe District Council then transferred the whole site to Red Kite in 2011 with the rest of its housing stock - minus part of the gardens and the car park - which are still maintained as public space by WDC.

It is not yet clear whether public access through the gardens will be retained.

Red Kite says it is a "common misconception" that Liston House belongs to the town, with only part of the gardens ring-fenced for public use when the council handed it over.

With the site falling within a conservation area and New Court house identified as a “building of significant interest”, the Victorian house will not be demolished and the gardens cannot be built on.

A separate plot adjacent to the gardens is also for sale, with the Liston House flats off Cromwell Road also available to developers.

Red Kite said earlier this year that local interest groups had expressed an interest in buying parts of the land.

To view the sale, see the Property section of this week’s Bucks Free Press.