THE beleaguered Hillside Haven nursing home has been thrown a life line by Whitsunday Regional Council.

Council has offered to buy the facility but warned the former business model was "not viable” and said they would be looking at "options” to make it a sustainable community asset.

The offer to buy the Collinsville aged care facility has been accepted by receivers and the building is now under contract.

Mayor Andrew Willcox said the council's offer was well below the reserve at auction but the amount was confidential until the sale officially settled.

"Council is keen to explore all options for the facility to assist the aged community at Collinsville,” he said.

"However I can confirm it will not re-open in the near future and will not operate as it has previously as the building is non-compliant and the previous business model is obviously not viable.”

When the home's former operator D & R Community Services vacated the facility, it was left in a sorry state, with Cr Willcox saying renovation work would need to be done.

"It will take time because we have to work with the community and from there we have to work on the building,” he said.

"We have to put that out to tender and go through the whole process.”

However Cr Willcox said the feedback from the Collinsville community had been positive thus far.

"The community has been very happy with council's action but I don't want to give the community false hope.”

"There is a lot of background work to be done before the building can open in any form and council will make sure they have done their homework before deciding on future options.”

Lorna Simpson, the former manager of the home when it was run by the community, was "over the moon” with the news.