From pubs to banks – Weird places you will be able to live in soon

Have you ever wanted to live in a quirky building that used to be a pub, bank or maybe even a nightclub?

Well now is your chance because unusual buildings are being converted across the country for those who are looking for a new home.

From Lloyds Bank pledging to convert one of their disused buildings into social housing, to a former nighclub in Kent being turned into two blocks of flats, there is something for everybody.

We take a look below at some of the weird and wonderful buildings being converted into housing below:

Disused Lloyds office to be turned into social housing

Lloyds Banking Group is set to make some disused offices in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, into social housing.

The bank said that Labour’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years is clearer than the last government’s.

It will sell the site to a local housing group with the agreement that 80 new homes will then be rented at about half the usual rate.

And this is just the start as the banking group is set to assess other sites around the UK, The Guardian reports.

The CEO of Lloyds, Charlie Nunn, said: ‘Labour’s commitment to it is clearer than the last government.

‘We obviously didn’t see, in the last period of time, some of the changes that would be needed to really unlock the level of the ambition that we think is needed for the UK to prosper going forward.

‘I’d like to get a chance to engage on the policy agenda because we now have a group of people who have got really specific ideas.

‘When you’re in the affordable space, [which is] the low end of the private rental space, we think that’s a really important pathway to home ownership.’

Former nightclub developed into two blocks of flats

Over in Chatham, Kent, plans are in place to turn a former nightclub into 61 flats across two blocks.

The Krystals Night and Vanity Bar closed in the summer of 2013 and more than a decade later is set to be transformed.

The downside is that the recent planning application says no affordable housing will be included.

45 of the 61 flats will be one-bedroom apartments, 14 would have two bedrooms and the remaining two homes would have three bedrooms.

Former Debenhams store to be turned into apartments

A 1920s Debenhams store in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is set to be turned into 34 apartments and commercial units if plans are approved.

What’s even better is the developers said it will ‘retain, restore and sympathetically convert’ the current buildings without the need for demolition – so it will feel like you actually live in a massive Debenhams.

There were previous plans to demolish the entire store and build a new block of apartments – yikes.

But this received lots of opposition from the likes of Historic England, Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Civil Society.

The buildings have been empty in Harrogate since 2021 after the department store went into adiministration.

North Yorkshire Council is set to make a decision at a later date.

Shopping centre to be turned into housing development

A former shopping centre in Milton Keynes has had the green light to be turned into a housing and leisure development.

Much of the existing structure at the Brunel Centre is set to be demolished in way for a new high density development.

The leisure development will include cinemas, restaurants, bars and pubs, nightclubs, casinos, fitness centres, bowling and bingo halls, hotels and conference facilities.

Pub will be developed into multiple homes

If you ever fancied living in a former pub, one of them is being converted into multiple homes in Cheltenham.

It will be transformed into two four-bedroom homes and one two-bedroom dwelling.

It was previously delayed by Wiltshire Council so that a bat survey could be carried out.

But now luckily there is a ‘likely absence of roosting bats’.

The pub’s existing outbuilding and single-storey extension will be demolished, with parking spaces introduced.

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