The new owners of a Rottingdean pub want to turn its upstairs floors into three holiday flats.
Landar Property Developments bought the mock Tudor Queen Victoria pub in the High Street at the beginning of the year.
Planning documents included in an application validated this month show they initially wanted to convert the whole 1930s pub into flats.
But after speaking with Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning department, they have now applied to keep the pub on the ground floor, convert the first floor into two flats and put a third flat in a new loft extension.
The existing kitchen and toilets would be moved to the first floor, reducing the floorspace of the pub.
And another extension would be built over what is now a terrace on the first floor.
The application says: “The Queen Victoria faces stiff competition, particularly from the White Horses, which has undergone a multi- million-pound transformation into a prominent seafront bar and eatery.
“Smaller local pubs have responded with price increases and marketing initiatives (e.g., meat raffles) to maintain their customer base.
“Given these market pressures, relying solely on the pub’s ground-floor operations is insufficient to sustain the business.
“The addition of holiday lettings is therefore essential to diversify income, reduce operational risk, and safeguard the building’s long-term role as a community and heritage asset.”
The application says Landar has already reopened 12 ground floor windows which had previously been closed up, possibly for heat retention or to creased a cosy atmosphere.
It says this has dramatically improved the main bar area to a “cathedral-like space”.
The application says Landar’s directors – has longstanding links to Rottingdean, including associations with the Rottingdean Drama Society and Windmill Bakery.
There is no company called Landar Property Developments Ltd listed on Companies House, but Landar Investments Ltd, which is named in the application, is owned by Cameran Gouhari and Nicholas Bandar.
The pub was built in 1934-5 during a major reworking of Rottingdean seafront from West Street down to the beach.
The application says it is now in a dilapidated state, with failed rafters and roof sections, cracking and bulging walls, corroded steel lintels and damaged windows.
To view or comment on the planning application, click here.
Sounds like a good plan.
Exciting news. Sounds like a great proposal
Excellent idea. Great work by this development company. We need creative thinking and investment to keep these buildings and business alive.
This should be affordable or council flats. A disgrace
Pragmatically speaking, not everything can be affordable social flats. We do need more social housing; you generally need heavy subsidies to make that happen. For this project, for example, doing some rough maths, you’d need just shy of £400,000 to have social rents here. Even at LHA-level, that’s £320,000.
The advantage of these being holiday lets is that people are unlikely to complain about noise from the pub filtering up.
Of course, then they can spend the next 20 years complaining about noise from the pub.
That pub isn’t even affordable prices so should be used for houses as well