Student flat plan 'to help meet shortfall'

The former retail units have been empty for years

Plans to convert empty shops in Sunderland into student accommodation have been given the green light.

The two units, on Olive Street in the Park Lane area, previously a children's clothing shop and bedding store, have been empty for years.

Council planners have approved the scheme for 46 studio apartments.

The developers Original Investments Ltd, said it would "contribute towards meeting [an] identified shortfall of student accommodation".

The statement added that it would would help to "reduce reliance on the HMO (house in multiple occupation) sector".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the plans had been amended following concerns over initial proposals for a two-storey extension to the existing flat roof of the former bedding store.

Council planners said the applicant had demonstrated "a need for the additional student accommodation" and that the plans would "not lead to a material impact upon privacy for the occupiers of nearby buildings".

The council decision report added: "There would also, more generally, be an improvement in the sense of bringing a vacant building back into use which currently presents a series of closed shutters facing the street to the front."