Leicester: Student block plan for former antiques store site

The site has been unused since the shop closed in October 2019

A former antiques store in Leicester could be bulldozed to make way for student flats.

Fifty apartments over two blocks are proposed for the site of the Leicester Antiques Warehouse on Welford Road.

The site already has approval for a 43-home block but the new scheme has removed parking spaces in favour of flats.

Planning permission was also granted last year to turn the neighbouring site into student accommodation.

The site has been unused since the warehouse closed in October 2019, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The new plans submitted to Leicester City Council detail a four-storey building of 29 flats, and a second, three-storey block at the rear with the remaining 21.

By removing the car parking spaces proposed in the original application, the new scheme has also removed the risks related to vehicles reversing onto the main highway, developer Rampard Ltd said.

Some 34 spaces would be provided for bicycles.

Planning permission was also granted last year to turn the neighbouring site into student accommodation. Approval was given for 18 flats over a single three-storey building.