The open-plan offices in Chartist House in the centre of Bath will be turned into 15 “elegant” apartments – but none will be “affordable” as it would not be viable for the developer.
The office premises on Trim Street
ORM Developments Limited applied to Bath & North East Somerset Council to change the use of all five floors of Chartist House at 15-17 Trim Street.
Originally three houses dating from 1724, the conversion to offices was carried out in 1982.
Grade II Chartist House, which has been empty for two years, has seen no interest from office tenants during the marketing process.
The council’s own economic development team objected to the loss of city centre office space. But in their report, planning officers said that although the quality of the office accommodation at Chartist House is “reasonably good”, it is clearly of a lesser quality than modern, purpose-built office accommodation such as Bath Quays South.
They also said that a recent search of rental websites had shown a number of other smaller office buildings available locally for let.
Chartist House is within ‘Prime Bath’ and attracts an affordable housing target of 40% so six of the 15 flats should be affordable.
However, the scheme was assessed by viability assessors who agreed it was not viable for the provision of affordable housing, but that the “surplus profit” of £152,860 should be secured by the council in lieu.
There was also a compromise on cycle parking. Parking is proposed within the lower ground floor of Chartist House for 16 cycles, which is a shortfall of 15 spaces.
However, planning officers said that given the fact that the development is making use of a brownfield site and is in a highly sustainable location where walking and the use of public transport will have significant uptake, they did not object to the under-provision of bike spaces.
At the council’s planning committee meeting on 18th March, members unanimously agreed to delegate to permit subject to conditions including securing the funding for affordable housing via a Section 106 agreement.
Listed building consent was also granted for internal and external alterations to Chartist House. The plans include upgrading the thermal performance of the building and installing secondary glazing to all existing windows.
Councillor Ian Halsall (Oldfield Park, Liberal Democrat) spoke in support of the application as Chartist House is in a sustainable location and in view of the council’s s lack of a five-year land supply for housing.
Councillor Shaun Hughes (Midsomer Norton North, Independent) stated that although he had reservations about the small level of contribution towards affordable housing, on balance he supported the application as a good use of the building.
