Former Richmond bank set to be turned into flats

A former bank in Richmond is set to be turned into housing.

A planning application has been submitted to convert the former TSB bank in Frenchgate into five apartments.

Documents submitted with the application to Richmondshire District Council state: “The proposed development and works seek to bring the building back into sustainable use as a residential development.

“In order to achieve this, and to create desirable and usable living accommodation, some alterations are proposed with minimal changes to the external appearance, apart from where these would enhance the setting and contribution that the range of buildings could make to the character and appearance of the area.”

Originally built for the Richmond Savings Bank and later subsumed in to the York County Savings Bank in 1927 the last banking activity was through the Trustee Savings Bank (TSB) a part of the Lloyds Banking Group.

The branch closed last year as part of a national round of closures by the company.

The applicants say the building has also been used in part as council offices and smaller subdivisions for a variety of small businesses.

The documents add: “The building has been subdivided in many places with later partition walls and suspended ceilings that have obscured many original features that the proposed development seeks to restore and reveal.”