Former Washington office block to become apartments after plans approved

Sunderland City Council’s planning department received an application in 2021 for the five-storey Derwent House building near The Galleries shopping centre.

According to planning documents submitted to council officials, the site has been vacant for around a decade.

New plans from applicant JT Consultancy Ltd sought permission to convert the building’s ground, first and second floors into residential accommodation.

This included a total of 24 apartments split across three floors, with a mix of one and two-bedroom properties.

A total of eight dwellings are expected to be located on each floor, with the ground floor comprising one-bedroom apartments and studio apartments, and the first and second floors accommodating one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

A covering letter submitted with the application stated a previous bid to convert the entire building to provide 39 flats had been submitted to the council, but never implemented.

Under new plans for the office block, no external alterations were proposed to the building and the third and fourth floors were not included in the apartment scheme.

After considering the ‘prior approval’ planning application and assessing it against planning policies, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved it on January 24, 2023.

A planning decision report said each room would be served by at least one window allowing “an adequate level of natural light”.

Council planners also said the proposal would not cause any issues in relation to “transport and highways impacts, land contamination, flooding, or noise”.

The council decision report adds: “The premises are located close to The Galleries shopping centre of Washington and The Galleries bus station and are connected to both by a series of pedestrian walkways.

“During the consideration of the application, a car park and bin storage layout plan was submitted which demonstrates that the level of parking that would be generated by the conversion can be accommodated within the site.

“Although the proposed location of the bin storage facilities is not deemed to be appropriate, the previously approved car park and bin storage layout has been submitted to demonstrate that this can be accommodated on site”.

For more information on the planning application, visit Sunderland City Council’s online planning portal and search reference: 22/02607/PCG