No ‘affordable’ homes being planned in Chartist House conversion

Plans to turn open-plan offices in the city centre into 15 “elegant” apartments have been revealed, although the developer admits the scheme is not policy compliant, including having no ‘affordable’ homes.

The premises on Trim Street

ORM Developments Limited has applied to Bath & North East Somerset Council to change the use of the ground, lower ground and upper floors of Chartist House at 15-17 Trim Street.

Originally three houses dating from 1724, the conversion into offices was carried out in 1982.

The application says Chartist House has seen no interest from office tenants during the marketing process.

“Should modern office users want a new office, they will look to locations such as Bath Quays or Newark Works.

“Instead, we are offering to breathe a new lease of life into the building and to revert it back to its historic residential use.”

The proposed office-to-residential conversion is in a location which is not supported by the local Placemaking Plan.

However, the applicant says that ruling in favour of similar applications is “commonplace” in Bath where marketing demonstrates no demand for the office accommodation, while national planning policy encourages local authorities to acknowledge the benefits of city centre residential accommodation when deciding applications.

Chartist House does not have any on-site car parking and can’t facilitate a compliant number of bike storage spaces.

But the report says that “given the central location of the property, close proximity to Bath Railway and the various bike and scooter hire offers available in the centre of Bath, this is not deemed to prevent the use of the building for residential purposes”.

The developer also recognises that the plans don’t meet the council’s target for affordable housing provision on sites with more than nine residential units.

“This is due to the fact that delivering these units within an existing Grade II listed building will be unviable due to the value of the existing office building and the costs of conversion.

“However, this should be weighed against the fact that a conversion into full market housing will still contribute positively to local housing need, as well as supporting the requirement for the council to approach development in a manner that recognises viability as required in the National Planning Policy Framework.”

The report adds that Trim Street is quiet side street, already containing residential properties and not an appropriate location for other commercial activities, which could be noisier and  “less desirable”.

Listed building consent is also being sought for internal and external alterations.

The plans include upgrading the thermal performance of the building and installing secondary glazing to all existing windows.

The planning reference is 25/03507/FUL and the deadline for comments is 13th October.