Former Northumberland care home set to be converted into flats

The bid, which has been submitted to Northumberland County Council, relates to Moorhouse Farm Care Home in Ashington, which was closed in April last year, according to the application form.

It is seeking permission to change the facility on Moorhouse Lane into 10 two-bedroom flats, one three-bedroom duplex and one four-bedroom house.

A design and access statement says: ‘Although the application is a change of use, the proposed use remains residential and the format of the building lends itself to modifications.’

The scheme would see the flats created in the former stable section and the apartment layouts have been arranged to situate the habitable rooms – lounge, kitchens, bedrooms – at the front of the property, ‘with the ancillary elements such as the corridors and bathrooms to the rear that do not rely on natural light’.

The duplex would be created using a large storage area within the roof space, which ‘allows for the simple adoption for an upper floor, serving as a bedroom’.

The house would be in the former farmhouse, which, ‘given its original use, already has the essence of a dwelling layout and the proposals seek to reinstate that use, while protecting the heritage elements’.

The document explains that the main external changes are the proposed glazed lobbies at the main entrance of each apartment, as the previous care-home set-up sees the entrances leading directly into the communal lounge areas.

The proposals retain all the external facing stonework with only minor modifications, such as some in-fill stonework to cill areas which were originally full-height.

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