Retail space in Bradford city centre could become flats.
A CONSERVATION area block in Bradford’s city centre could become almost entirely residential if new plans are approved. The former Bed Shop location, 111-117 Sunbridge Road, has been converted into flats but still has a ground-floor shop space.
A planning application has been submitted to convert the building’s remaining retail space into two one-bedroom flats, one measuring 39 square metres and the other 41 square metres.
The application, submitted by Rajan Gupta of Medipharm Bradford Ltd, states that the lower section of the shopfront will have privacy film applied to the inner face of the glazing.
This will provide occupants with privacy while preserving the building’s overall appearance. “Our proposal will provide much-needed additional housing in the city centre, which will boost the area’s vitality, as well as repurpose an unused section of this building of interest within the Goitside Conservation Area.
“The building was previously marketed for rent as a shop unit, without any interest for many years.”
The permit application stated that “continuing vacant use has led to the building looking not at its best, with posters etc.
being plastered over the shopfront, which detract from the overall look of the building, as do the existing solid shutters”. It continued: “The new use will enable the building to fulfil its potential and improve the street scene within this area of the city.”
Bradford Council rejected an application in 2018 to convert the entire building into flats. Officers at the time stated, “The application proposes to remove a retail use from this property, which is within the defined boundary of Bradford city centre.”
“In the absence of any information to indicate otherwise, the proposal would result in harm to the vitality of the city centre through the loss of an active ground floor frontage and the loss of a retail use.”
Since then, plans to convert much of the building into flats have been approved, but only if some ground-floor space remains in retail use, which planners argue is important for the city centre building.
The officers referred to these plans as ‘a reasonable compromise between the need to preserve the character and appearance of this important building within the City Centre Conservation Area and the need to revise its layout to introduce a range of new sustainable uses which will help to secure it for the longer term’.
Planners will decide whether the building’s remaining retail space can be converted into apartments in the coming weeks.
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