Plans to turn pub into 18-bed shared house refused

Plans to turn a landmark former pub into an 18-bed house of multiple occupancy (HMO) have been refused.

Bradford Council planning officers ruled that the proposal to convert the Victorian-era Carlisle Hotel, in the Manningham area of the city, into a large-scale HMO would lead to "substandard levels of accommodation."

They raised concerns that the ground floor of the property would have no communal dining or living space, meaning residents would have to eat in their rooms, some of which would measure just 8.8sqm (95sqft).

The Carlisle Road pub, which stands next to Manningham Library, dates back to the 1870s and was once one of the area's most popular drinking spots.

But it has been closed for a number of years, and last year an application to convert the building into an 18-bed house was submitted, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The pub already had 10 HMO rooms on the upper floors, but the new application requested permission for eight new rooms to be created in the ground floor space.

The ground floor bedrooms would each have kitchen space, but the eight residents would have to share two bathrooms.

Planning officers said that although the plan would "bring a viable use to an existing vacant building", the proposed layout would "not be served by any communal living or dining space, with these facilities not being provided".

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