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28
Jan 2023
From Oxford Street to West Park, Harrogate has seen a flurry of recent planning applications to build flats above town centre shops.
Over the past few years, developers have turned their attention to local high streets – specifically to unused retail space.
It’s part of a trend across the UK which has grown since the covid pandemic.
Instead of new build estates on the outskirts of town, developers see town centres as key for both tackling the housing market and revitalising the high street.
Alex Goldstein, an independent property consultant who works in Harrogate and London, said the trend would be good for the town centre, particularly for younger people who want to live closer to their workplace.
He added that the move was also a chance to regenerate Harrogate’s high street, which has fallen on hard times in recent years along with other towns.
Alex Goldstein, property consultant in Harrogate.
Mr Goldstein said:
Mr Goldstein added that the trend was replicated in bigger cities, such as London, where people want to be close to “cafe culture” and working remotely.
Left, the rear of the property on the former Thomas Cook unit on James Street currently; right, the proposed alteration.
In a report by estate agents Savills, Paul Wellman, residential researcher at the firm, estimated 36,000 new homes were built close to town centres across the UK in the five years to June 2020.
Since then, the move to think differently about retail on the high street has “accelerated” due to the covid pandemic.
Mr Wellman said:
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