Brookenby village goes on the market as 54 homes on a former RAF base get ready for sale

A countryside village made up of 54 homes that were built on a former RAF military base has gone on the market.

The tiny parish of Brookenby was built in the 1980s to provide accommodation for families of airmen serving at the Lightning jet fighter base RAF Binbrook.

But now the former military complex, nestled in the verdant hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, is a residential community made up of two and three bedroom homes, of which 50 are rented out to families and couples. 

Military activity ended at RAF Binbrook and Brookenby by the 1990s, and the sites were used for filming the 1990 movie Memphis Belle due to its make-up of 1940s-inspired architecture. 

Investors will also get the canteen of the former RAF base, where heroic pilots used to eat their meals, which has permission to be turned into a commercial building.  

The former military complex, nestled in the verdant hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, is now a residential community made up of two and three bedroom homes, of which 50 are rented out to families and couples

Military activity ended at RAF Binbrook and Brookenby by the 1990s, and the sites were used for filming the 1990 movie Memphis Belle (pictured during filming) due to its make-up of 1940s-inspired architecture

Avison Young is the property company selling the sites, but has remained tight-lipped on what buyers would have to part with to snap up the village. 

The property company expects investors could get a return of £239,000 per year through rent fees. 

In its sales brochure, it boasts: ‘The portfolio is situated on a former RAF base in the village of Brookenby, which is well located for commuting to Grimsby (12 miles), Lincoln (25 miles), Scunthorpe (25 miles) and Hull via the Humber Bridge (24 miles).

‘This picturesque location is a desirable location to live. It is well-suited for accessing the above major towns, as well as the regional road network, including the M180 leading west, and east coast seaside towns.’ 

More than 90 per cent of the homes on the site, where families of RAF servicemen and women lived, are currently occupied

Investors will also get the canteen of the former RAF base, where heroic pilots used to eat their meals, which has permission to be turned into a commercial building

At the centre of the village is a huge lawn that is surrounded on all four sides by homes that formally housed families of RAF servicemen and women

Janet Church said: ‘I have lived here 20 years as (sic) husband was one of the first people to buy a house here once it was sold from the Ministry of Defence. Very happy here and great community spirit overall.’

Matty Slawson added: ‘It’s great up here, lots of fun, I’ve been here for 24 years.’

Brookenby Parish Council said: ‘The site was the living accommodation for married families stationed at RAF Binbrook.

‘When the station was closed down, and after the last Lightning left, the land was sold to a local developer who then sold the houses on the open market.

‘With the village of Binbrook just one mile away, a new name had to be produced and the old name Brookenby, reputedly the name of a former plague village, was reactivated.

‘Since then, the village, whilst having its fair share of teething troubles, has slowly risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of the former service married quarters.’

Avison Young is the property company selling the sites, but has remained tight-lipped on what buyers would have to part with to snap up the village