How Harrogate is following the town centre living trend

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.

Alex Goldstein, property consultant in Harrogate.

Mr Goldstein said:

“I see this as a good thing. I have been banging on about it for years.

“We need to stop building new builds on the outskirts of town.”

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.

Harrogate following the trend

Cities such as Lincoln prepared for the changing high street as long ago as 2006, when City of Lincoln Council published its masterplan for the city centre.

It aimed to keep people in the city centre by offering a mixture of retail and “experience”, such as coffee shops and cinemas.

The move is a far cry from the usual consumer retail units, such as Primark and River Island, which high streets have become known for.

The aim of keeping people in the city centre would partly be done by creating more residential space, the council said.

Harrogate is not immune to this trend.

On West Park, space above the now closed Orvis store is proposed to be converted into six new flats.

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Just a stone’s throw away on Cambridge Street, new apartments are proposed above a former phone shop and multiple applications have been submitted to convert the former post office on Cambridge Road into accommodation.

Meanwhile, the government recently stepped in to approve a redevelopment of the former Thomas Cook unit on James Street into three new flats.

A 17-bedroom aparthotel scheme on the floors above the new Oliver Bonas store on James Street was also planned, but was turned down by Harrogate Borough Council.

Left, the rear of the property on Market Place currently; right, the proposed alteration.

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:

“The truth is our towns and city centres were already changing.

“In 2020 these changes accelerated. As the need for particular uses and businesses usually found in the heart of towns and cities reduces, opportunities arise to remodel and revitalise those places.

“Whilst covid has given some the desire for countryside and green open spaces, for others it has meant convenience and being part of a community.”

An opportunity for young people

Much of the discussion around converting unused retail space into housing has centred on getting people in closer proximity to bars, restaurants and offices.

While cities such as Manchester and Leeds may have a wider retail offer to youngsters, Harrogate has its own selling point.

Allessandro Biraglia, associate professor of marketing at the University of Leeds, said Harrogate had its own independent retail sector, which bigger cities may not have due to expensive rates and bigger franchises dominating the high street.

As a result, he said living within a smaller town centre may offer an opportunity to “young professionals” who want to get their business ideas off the ground.

He said:

“Having the possibility to live above the shop and having everything in one place would be enticing for many young professionals.”

‘The high street is shifting’

The legacy of covid has led to estate agents, property developers and businesses rethinking how they use the space available to them in town centres.

While larger developers will continue to opt for strategic housing sites, others will see chances to create homes in the heart of the high street such as Harrogate.

For Mr Goldstein, the move is a good thing for town centres.

“The high street is shifting from the usual.”

Plan for flat above Harrogate estate agents approved

Plans have been approved to convert a part of a town centre estate agents into a two-bedroom flat.

The premises on Albert Street is occupied by North Residential, previously Knight Frank, but under the proposals part of the first floor and all of the second floor will be changed to residential.

Now, Harrogate Borough Council has approved the proposal.

The application states:

“The upper floors of the premises were ceased to be part of the commercial use following the refurbishment of the building at the rear 18 months ago.

“The ground floor floorspace was considered more convenient and offered a high quality meeting room. Since that time, the first and second floors have remained vacant in excess of the three month requirement.”

North Residential began trading last year after a management buy-out of the Harrogate branch of Knight Frank, having been operating it in Harrogate for 15 years.

The business will continue in the ground floor of the Albert Street building, along with a first-floor meeting room to the rear.

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River Island to close in Harrogate as landlord plans apartments

A town centre shop in Harrogate is set to close in just over three weeks’ time.

River Island is holding a closing down sale as it prepares to close its doors on Cambridge Street for the last time on February 4.

A spokesperson for River Island said:

“The closure is due to change of use of the building by the landlord.”

Plans were approved in summer 2020 to refurbish the ground floor of the building and convert the first floor, as well as adding a roof extension, to create 14 apartments. Work would need to begin on the building by June this year to comply with the terms of the planning permission.

The building is owned by a Santander pension fund.

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Last summer, Cosy Club opened in the same stretch of units, becoming the first bar along the street. Sainsbury’s Local and Skipton Building Society also opened branches earlier in the year.

Further east on the same street, plans were approved last February to convert the upper floors of some retail units into flats.

Today, York-based property company Grantside announced it had acquired the 10,000 sq ft building and was intending to use the flats as holiday lets.

Steve Davis, chief executive of Grantside, said:

“This is a great opportunity and a brilliant location – in the heart of Harrogate town centre.

“Our vision for the building is to bring it back into full use through the conversion of the upper floors into apartments, which will be used as holiday accommodation and help the town’s economy.”

Flats plan approved for Harrogate’s Wetherby Road despite traffic concerns

A three-storey building of six apartments will be built on Wetherby Road despite concerns from residents over traffic problems.

The site, at the corner of Wayside Crescent, was previously a home with a large garden, where two detached homes have been built since 2020.

Meeting today, Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee followed officers’ recommendation to approve the plans to demolish the building and create the new flats.

They had heard from Martin Hughes, representing nearby residents on Wayside Crescent, who said the area was a “living hell” with cars regularly mounting the pavement to pass each other.

The situation had become worse, he said, during construction of the two detached homes in the former garden of the house in question.

Mr Hughes said:

“We had contractor vehicles parking on double yellow lines throughout — in fact they are still parking on double yellow lines.

“There’s no policing of that and I understand why, because there’s insufficient resources, but it doesn’t help matters on the ground.”

The location of the site, close to the football ground, hospital, and several schools, made it a busy “rat run”, said Mr Hughes.

As a result, he said, residents had undertaken their own survey on a weekday morning in November to assess the situation.

They found 151 pedestrians had crossed the end of Wayside Crescent between 8am and 9am, of which 26 were accompanied children and 72 were unaccompanied children.

Meanwhile, 162 cars were driven along Wayside Crescent, and 17 of those had to take evasive action, either pulling into a driveway or going onto the pavement, in the face of an oncoming vehicle.

He added:

“This is already a dangerous road and are we really, seriously going to add to this madness?”

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While Cllr Pat Marsh, of the Liberal Democrats, said she could not support the proposal because of the impact on the nearby roads, Conservative Cllr John Mann disagreed.

He said although traffic was clearly a problem in the area, there had been no objections raised by North Yorkshire County Council‘s highways team to this plan. On those grounds, he said, he would support the application.

He added:

“I agree with the comments of colleagues and the objector. In relation to the rat-running and the amount of traffic on Wayside Crescent and the difficulty of crossing Wetherby Road apart from using the pedestrian crossing.

“I also agree with the amount of pedestrian traffic, the school children etc. But at the same time, I don’t think the addition of six flats is going to change that at all in terms of the quantity of traffic and the difficulties which people experience with that.

“I don’t think that will alter the situation one way or the other.”

Planning committee members voted by nine votes to one in favour of the plans. They also voted by the same margin to write to the highways department to ask for traffic on Wayside Crescent to be assessed with a view to making improvements, which could include making the road one way.

Harrogate council approves £650,000 refurbishment of ‘eyesore’ Ripon flats

Harrogate Borough Council will spend £650,000 on long-awaited plans to bring 11 one-bedroom flats in Ripon back into use.

Plans to refurbish the council homes at Allhallowgate date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

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The council’s cabinet met on Wednesday night to approve spending money on the refurbishment.

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.
He said:

“This is a project that for a number of years has hit the buffers for various reasons. It is now appropriate we start moving it forward again. It is somewhat of an eyesore so I’m delighted we’re moving forward.

“It will improve the streetscene and a number of residents are concerned about the state of the block following the demolition. It’s high time we moved on.”
Subject to planning permission, HBC hopes to complete the refurbishment by May 2023.

Government approves James Street flats plan

The government has approved plans to redevelop a retail unit on Harrogate’s James Street to create three flats.

The application was made by Leeds-based company SJM Cotech Ltd and included plans to create a three storey extension for the flats to the back of the site and create two ground floor retail units.

The developer revised the plans after submitting them in May 2021, which initially outlined proposals for four flats.

The property is located at 16 James Street, near the cut-through to the Victoria shopping centre. It fronts both on James Street and on Market Place to the rear. It was previously home to Thomas Cook, the travel agent.

SJM Cotech Ltd took the proposal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate after Harrogate Borough Council refused the plan in February this year.

Council officials said the proposal would fail to enhance or preserve the character of the conservation area.

In a decision notice, the council said:

“The rear historic offshoot is considered a heritage asset. The proposal seeks to remove and replace this without suitable justification.

“The proposal therefore would fail to enhance or preserve the character and appearance of the host building and Harrogate Conservation Area.”

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It added that the proposal would also result in “poor levels of natural daylight to all apartments”.

However, TJ Burnham, a government planning inspector, said in a decision notice that “nothing within the evidence suggests that this would have any harmful effect on the living conditions of a future occupier”.

A decision notice from the inspector said:

“There would therefore be no significant harm to the living conditions of future occupiers of the flats with regard to the availability of daylight or ceiling height.”

It added:

“I have identified no conflict with the development plan and there are no material considerations to indicate that the appeal should be determined otherwise than in accordance with it. I therefore conclude that the appeal should be allowed.”

Harrogate YMCA shop to close after just two years

The YMCA charity shop on Cambridge Road in Harrogate will close in the next two weeks after just two years in the town centre.

Manager Sam Perry said the unit has to be vacated by May 12 and expects all stock to be sold before then.

The store opened just before the first lockdown, across from McDonald’s, and Ms Perry said it was often overwhelmed by donations from local people.

She said the closure was due to the renovation of the upper floors into flats.

A planning application to convert the first and second floor of the building into eight flats was approved in September 2021. Developers Lake House Investments, which is based near Brighouse, submitted the plan.

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The shop is already looking bare, with just half of the floor space being used to display the last few donations at discounted prices.

Ms Perry said it was a “real shame” the shop was closing but added the charity was keen to find another suitable unit in the town centre.

Before moving to Harrogate in February 2020, there was a YMCA store in Starbeck but it also had to vacate due to development. Ms Perry said it could take up to 18 months to find new premises in Harrogate so she would have to find another job.

Harrogate council approves sale of Knaresborough flats

Four renovated flats on Knaresborough High Street are to be sold off by Harrogate Borough Council for almost £900,000.

Members of the council’s cabinet agreed to the sale at a meeting last night after the Grade II listed properties were unoccupied for several years before being bought by the council in 2019.

A renovation project also including two retail units has recently been completed and the properties are now on the market.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council, said the authority would not make a profit from the £879,900 leasehold sale and that he hoped more vacant properties in Knaresborough town centre would now be brought back into use.

He told last night’s meeting:

“These are a series of properties that have been neglected by the private equity owners for many years.

“The whole area had been dragged down and many residents were aware of this and very disappointed by the state of the high street.

“It is a listed and very complicated building, and has a number of interesting construction aspects which has made it challenging.

“People can now really sense the improvement of the high street and I’m pretty optimistic that we will see other people who own properties in the area join the bandwagon.”

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The flats are individually valued between £189,950 and £295,000.

The council will retain control over the freehold of the flats, as well as the freehold of the two retail units that were part of the refurbishment.

Cllr Swift, who is also cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, added: 

“We have done a lot of work in Knaresborough over the last few years including just up the road at Conyngham Hall with an investment in the tech centre which has been extremely positive.

“And I think we can even do work on Knaresborough House in the future which may be something to keep our eyes on.”

Harrogate council to sell restored Knaresborough flats for £879,000

Harrogate Borough Council is set to sell four flats on Knaresborough High Street that were restored and brought back into use.

The council bought the Grade II listed properties in 2019 after they had been unoccupied for several years.

Renovation began with planning permission and listed building consent in 2020, and has just been completed.

Now, senior councillors look set to sign off on selling the leasehold of the town centre properties for an estimated £879,900.

However, the authority will retain control over the freehold of the flats. It also intends to keep the freehold of two retail units that were part of the refurbishment.

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A report due before councillors at next Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting says retaining the freehold would help “retain control over the quality and frequency of future external repair and maintenance” of the properties.

The properties are valued at:

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development at the council, said previously:

“These properties had been a blight on the high street in Knaresborough for several years.

“But after they were brought to our attention by Cllr Darling, we recognised the potential they could have to provide both homes and business spaces, we took the necessary steps to purchase them.”

Demolition starts as former Harrogate college makes way for flats

Demolition work has started at a former Harrogate college, which will make way for eight apartments in the St George’s area of town.

The late Victorian building on The Oval was home to Harrogate Tutorial College between 1981 and 2004.

Since it closed it has fallen into a state of disrepair and has also been subject to vandalism. But diggers moved in today and made quick work of the site.

After a number of applications and appeals, including to the planning inspectorate, Harrogate Borough Council approved developers Oakdale Estates’ plans for the building in 2019.

The plans

Harrogate Borough Council refused the original application to build flats on the site on the basis that it was a non-designated heritage asset in a conservation area.

The amended, approved planning application was for a five-storey building similar in structure and design to the former tutorial college.

Harrogate Tutorial College in 2012. Photo: Google

Plans for the development said conversion of the old site would result in a less energy efficient building than a full replacement.

Harrogate Tutorial College specialised in preparing students for university and was particularly popular with oversees students hoping to get into a UK university. Keith Pollard was the headmaster.

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