Work continues to turn RBS bank into 18 flats in Basingstoke

As previously reported, scaffolding and hoardings have gone up at the former RBS Bank at 19–23 Winchester Street, where developer Grandeur Group is converting the upper floors of the 1980s brick-built block into 18 self-contained apartments.

A marketing board on the site bills them as "18 exclusive 1 & 2 bedroom apartments" to be "exclusively marketed by Encanto", with lettings targeted to open in January 2027.

The building has been largely sitting empty since 2018, when the bank closed its doors. Planning documents submitted in support of the scheme described it as "a building of no architectural merit" - a 1980s replacement for an earlier building destroyed by fire - yet noted it sits within the Basingstoke Town Conservation Area, just a short walk from the Grade II-listed Willis Museum on the Market Place.

18 'exclusive' 1&2 bedroom apartments will be made (Image: Newsquest)

Grandeur Enterprises Limited, trading as Grandeur Group, submitted a planning application, reference 22/03401/FUL, in December 2022, initially seeking permission for 20 flats.

The application went through a lengthy process involving amendments, further information requests and a section 106 legal agreement before Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council finally granted consent for a slightly revised total of 18 units, on July 10, 2024.

The approved scheme will see the upper floors converted into eight one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom flats, with a revamped commercial unit retained at ground floor level to help support the vitality of the secondary shopping frontage.

The exterior will be remodelled with white render and zinc panels above a retained brick shopfront, and a dedicated residents' entrance will be created on Winchester Street.

A new third storey will be added, set deliberately back from the façade to reduce its visual impact when viewed from the narrow pedestrianised street below.

Scaffolding is up (Image: Newsquest)

Basingstoke Heritage Society formally objected to the development, with representative Chris Comer writing that the additional storey would result in "a building markedly taller than neighbouring buildings" that would "challenge the established hierarchy of buildings within the streetscene and provide unwelcome competition with nearby listed buildings."

The society accepted the principle of converting the vacant upper floors to homes, but said the scheme "fails to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area" and would cause "harm to the significance of notable and listed buildings."

Grandeur's planning consultants countered that any harm would amount to no more than "less than substantial" in National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) terms, and argued the public benefits of bringing a long-vacant town centre building back into use and adding much-needed homes would outweigh it.

Work begins to turn former RBS into 18 'exclusive' flats (Image: Newsquest)

It also pointed to the council's own Concept Masterplan for the Top of Town, which specifically encourages the conversion of upper floors of existing buildings to residential use to increase the area's vitality.

The development will provide no car parking, with the transport assessment arguing that the site's central location, proximity to Basingstoke's railway and bus stations and the availability of public car parks nearby make this acceptable.

Instead, 28 long-stay cycle parking spaces will be provided inside the building for residents, supplemented by eight short-stay spaces at the rear for visitors.

Despite the scheme comprising more than 19 units, which would ordinarily trigger a requirement for affordable housing, a viability assessment was submitted alongside the application, and the decision notice confirms that the Community Infrastructure Levy liability is nil.