News plans to turn empty Hartlepool town centre pub into flats

Proposals have been submitted to carry out work on the property located at 28 Whitby Street, in Hartlepool, which was previously home to The Vault public house.

Castledene Housing are now seeking to bring the building back into use with an application to turn the site into six one bedroom flats.

Three would be on the ground floor and three on the first floor while work would involve “stripping out the internals whilst maintaining as much of the existing structural walls as possible”.

A supporting statement from Rocket, an architectural design and surveying company, said planning guidance has been carefully considered and incorporated throughout the scheme’s design.

It added: “The development has been designed to restore and retain the architectural character of the area and fit within the surrounding landscape and local area.”

An application from Megill Billingham was previously approved in 2019 for the former pub to be converted into seven one bedroom flats, which would have been used for social housing.

Yet work never took place and planning permission has since lapsed.

The property previously featured a restaurant on the first floor as well as the public house on the ground floor.

The site is located within the new Hartlepool Development Corporation (HDC) boundary, meaning it will fall to the HDC rather than Hartlepool Borough Council to make a decision on the proposals.

Consultation is underway on the application ahead of a decision being made later this year.