Permission refused for 'cramped' flats

A retrospective planning application to turn the upper floors of a former Bradford pub into flats has been refused by planners as "sub-standard".

The former Diplomat pub, on Sunbridge Road, received planning permission for an office conversion in 2014, but the building's upper floors were subsequently converted into nine flats without permission.

Earlier this year, a retrospective application to retain the flats, described by the applicant as "high-quality residential accommodation, was submitted to Bradford Council.

But planning has been refused, with officers citing a layout that "resulted in cramped and substandard living conditions".

The retrospective application submitted described the residential accommodation as "a carefully considered and contextually sensitive conversion of a historically significant building".

But planning officers said all the flats fell below legal minimum-space standards.

Turning down the application, officers wrote: "All of the flats fail to meet the minimum-space standards for a one-bed single and double occupancy unit.

"As such, the flats have resulted in cramped and substandard living conditions, with Flat 6 being particularly affected."

Flat six measures just 23sqm - 1sqm less than the legal minimum size.

Planners added: "[These standards] are especially crucial in this case, as the flats do not benefit from private or communal outdoor amenity space, and the surrounding area lacks open recreational green spaces for residents."

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