Victorian villas set to be returned to residential use

A PAIR of Victorian villas in Warrington town centre which have been used as offices for many years will be returned to residential use if planning chiefs give approval.

An application has been put to the borough council’s planning department for permission to convert the properties in Wilson Patten Street into two houses in multiple occupation – HMO’s – comprising 16 individual homes.
At present the properties are largely unoccupied. The plan is to reinstate them as two separate buildings with eight dwellings in each.
Each half would comprise a kitchen/dining room and living room at the basement level, three bedrooms on the ground floor, four bedrooms on the first floor, and a single bedroom at second-floor level. All the bedrooms would be well-proportioned with ensuite bathrooms.
An existing bulky and unattractive ramped access will be removed and steps reinstated. Lightwells would be created to the basement level with historic window openings to both the front and rear being reinstated
The buildings would also undergo a general programme of repair and maintenance with redundant signage removed. New heritage specification UPVC windows would be installed.
Planning chiefs have been told the dwellings will be targeted to private residents seeking an affordable housing solution in the local area – probably young professionals working within the Warrington area.
The scheme is currently being studied by Warrington Borough Council planning officers.