Bid to turn the upper floors of city centre pub into 15 flats revealed

In June a planning application for work to the upper floors to the Ambassador on Sunbridge Road was approved by Bradford Council.

This work included re-introducing windows that have long been bricked up to some of the four floors over the pub.

Now proposals to turn these four floors into flats have been submitted.

The proposal, by Sandeep Gupta, is not a planning application, but a “prior notification” that the work will be done.

Recent changes to planning law introduced by Government make it easier for developers to convert empty spaces above shops and city centre businesses into flats without the need for planning approval.

Councils can only refuse prior notification applications for a small number of reasons, including highways or environmental health concerns.

The plans show that 15 one-bed flats would be spread out over the four floors above the Ambassador pub.

The building was constructed as a trades hall in the 1920s, and lies within Bradford’s City Centre Conservation Area.

In approving the plans to install the new windows – an application which also included repairs to the building’s frontage – planning officers said: “The proposed development is considered to preserve this key unlisted building, thereby enhancing the character and appearance of the city centre conservation area.”

A decision on the flats plan is expected next month.