St Albans Road shops to have four flats built on top

Plans to add an extra floor of housing to 338 to 344A St Albans Road were granted yesterday, May 1, by Watford Borough Council.

The two-storey building currently houses several ground-level shops, which will retain their retail units, and one floor of two-bedroom flats above.

Borough council officers said the proposals were unlikely to increase traffic in the area and their impact on the surrounding area’s character and appearance was acceptable.

How the approved extra food will look from the street. (Image: Gillett Macleod Partnership/Watford Borough Council)

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The proposed extra storey, measuring 232 square metres, will add a pair of two-bed apartments as well as two single-bed flats, housed in a pitched design to replace the existing flat roof.

The fences in the garden will be removed in order to create a 461-square-metre-communal space and bike storage for the occupants of the new and existing flats.

To reach the new apartments, the internal staircases and external fire escape would be extended, while some vent ducts for the shops will be removed.