Dan Whelan

1 week ago | placenorthwest.co.uk | Dan Whelan

Castle Home Estates wants to convert Empire House on Church Street in the city centre into homes for 30 people. A planning application for the HMO has been submitted to Preston City Council. Documents lodged with the application state that the building would “provide affordable housing for students and commuting professionals” and go some way to “revitalising the deteriorating, lifeless feel of Church Street”.

1 week ago | placenorthwest.co.uk | Dan Whelan

At the time of writing, the ruling Conservative party and Labour have lost a combined 60 county council seats, most of them to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Reform, which has performed strongly across the country at Thursday’s local and mayoral elections, has stormed to victory in Lancashire, taking control of the county council. Reform had no seats on the council prior to the polls opening but has already won more than the 43 required to form a majority.

1 week ago | placenorthwest.co.uk | Dan Whelan

The race is on to implement the planning permission for the 15-floor Store Street scheme before it expires later this year. M1 Piccadilly, part of Faizal Atcha’s LW Group conglomerate, secured planning permission for the project from Manchester City Council in 2022. The scheme was backed by former Liverpool footballer Naby Kieta. Shaw Street Developments, a vehicle controlled by Liverpool-based businessman Russell Schwarze, is now bringing the development forward.

1 week ago | placenorthwest.co.uk | Dan Whelan

Fragrance Group wants to deliver spaces for 103 vehicles on the site of the former St Chads Hotel while detailed designs for a £30m hotel are worked up and a “globally recognised” occupier secured. Singapore-based Fragrance Group was granted permission to build a 143-bedroom hotel on Blackpool’s Promenade last year. St Chads Hotel, as well as Lyric Hotel and Regency Apartments, have already been knocked down to pave the way for a new six-storey hotel.

1 week ago | placenorthwest.co.uk | Dan Whelan

The borough claims it has a “disproportionately high number of HMOs” and is to pursuing the introduction of measures to wrestle back control. Bolton Council was seeking to approved in principle the implementation of an Article 4 direction that would block permitted development rights for houses in multiple occupation across the whole of the borough. The plan was approved by the council’s cabinet in April before Cllr David Grant’s immediately called the decision in.