A charity cash crisis means one of the most exclusive and historic country estates in Sussex has been put up for sale.

Danny, near Hurstpierpoint, has been put on the market for up to £5 million by the Country Houses Association (CHA), which had spent £2 million refurbishing the Grade I listed building.

The Elizabethan mansion, split into 19 one and two-bedroom apartments, is set in eight acres in the Downs between Hurstpierpoint and Pyecombe.

Residents were shocked to discover they would have to find new homes by next summer.

The association, a friendly society with charitable status, was formed to buy historic houses and rent them out to retired people while preserving the nation's heritage.

Danny was built in 1596 and was once the country home of former prime minister David Lloyd George.

The War Cabinet met there in 1918 to discuss the terms of the Armistice Treaty, which ended the First World War.

Danny was the first property to be acquired by the association in 1956.

Refurbishments included recreating the Tudor dinning room.

All 16 members of staff at Danny were under instructions not to talk to the media.

The residents, who include a number of retired servicemen and women and professionals, keep themselves to themselves and were reluctant to talk about their plight.

They paid large deposits to rent their retirement homes.

Some residents of properties owned by CHA have paid between £40,000 and £140,000.

They have now been advised they need to find alternative accommodation by mid-2004.

The CHA said it would help residents find new homes.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "These are beautiful houses. We are facing the fact we could be homeless."

A statement from the CHA said: "The board of trustees has regrettably taken the decision to cease the residential accommodation business run at eight of their properties.

"The CHA is a friendly society with charitable status formed to preserve country houses in its possession for the benefit of the nation.

"It has traditionally funded this aim by allowing subsidiaries to provide serviced apartments at each location.

"The decision to close was necessary due to the falling demand for the particular serviced apartments offered, the increasing age profile of residents and the regulations surrounding the business.

"The trustees are not permitted to use charity funds to support loss-making businesses with no future prospects."

Deloitte Touche have been appointed as liquidators and will be responsible for the sell-off of the eight properties across the South.