Change of use of shop and first floor from retail to residential

Why Was This Refused?

• ✓Floor space at or below the minimum standard for a single-person apartment
• ✓No off-street parking available
• ✓Outdoor amenity space limited to an enclosed rear yard with no external access
• ✓Building size considered unsuitable for residential conversion
• ✓Decision made by Planning Committee, aligned with officer recommendation to refuse
• ✓amenity
• ✓parking
• ✓considerable building by reason of its size is not suitable & appropriate for conversion to residential

The proposal was to change the use of an existing retail unit and its first floor at 11 Bank Street, Castletown from retail to residential accommodation. The officer's assessment found that the building could provide at best only around 27–30 square metres of usable floor space, barely meeting the minimum standard for a single-person apartment. There was no off-street parking available, and the only outdoor amenity space was an enclosed rear yard with no external access. The Planning Committee, following the officer's recommendation to refuse, concluded that the building's size and the absence of adequate parking and amenity space would create a poor living environment for any future occupiers, making it unsuitable for residential use.

The committee refused the application because the building was considered too small and constrained to provide acceptable residential accommodation. The lack of off-street parking and the very limited, enclosed outdoor amenity space with no external access were decisive factors in finding the property unsuitable for conversion to residential use.

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