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Plans to turn listed building into student flats

BBC 42 Frederick Street, Sunderland. A two-storey grey-white building with large, black front door and black detail around the windows, of which there are two on the ground floor and three on the first. Two skylights are visible on the roof. To its left is a modern, flat-roofed estate agent shop with a blue and yellow sign and a rectangular, plain window set in the brick-fronted upper floor.BBC
The building sits between other residential properties and a retail unit

Plans have been put forward to "breathe new life" into a listed city centre building by turning it into student accommodation.

Sunderland City Council has received an application for Grade II-listed 42 Frederick Street in the Sunniside area.

Describing it as a "dilapidated" site, those behind the plans say they are hoping to "bring much-needed refurbishment to the area".

It is the second submission for the property after previous plans were withdrawn amid concerns from the local authority.

A close-up view of the ground floor of 42 Frederick Street, Sunderland
The building is currently unoccupied

The new plans show the conversion of the property from four residential apartments to a "six-bed HMO [house of multiple occupation] with associated internal alterations".

Last year's bid was for eight studio apartments.

Sunderland City Council’s conservation team said the former plans would have "introduced an inappropriate use that is incompatible with the character of this part of the Sunniside Conservation Area and the regeneration objectives for Sunniside".

Officers also said that proposal would see "unsympathetic interventions to the listed building".

The front door of 42 Frederick Street, Sunderland
The applicant has called it a "dilapidated" building

Local Democracy Reporting Service reports the new plans feature two flats in the basement, one on the ground floor, two on the first floor and one on the top floor.

Applicant Singh Dulai said the layout was "designed in such a way that [it] is capable of being reconfigured through internal alterations to meet general needs housing in the future".

A decision on the application will be made after a consultation period later this year.

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