Fratton Social Club set to be converted into flats and commercial units under new plans

Plans to convert the disused Fratton Social Club building into flats have been submitted to Portsmouth City Council. The scheme is the latest to be proposed for the site in a bid to bring the land back into use and proposes the construction of eight flats and three commercial units in Fratton Road.

Developer Saleem Ahmed, having bought the land, said more housing was needed in Portsmouth and that the site was suitable for redevelopment.

One previous planning application to convert the site into dozens of students flats was withdrawn in 2019 in the face of objections from the public. A second mixed use scheme for student housing, flats and a social club was withdrawn in January after also drawing concerns, particularly around the size of the housing which did not meet living space standards. At the end of last year, a third application was submitted for the conversion of the front of the site, immediately off Fratton Road, into a takeaway. Council planners are still considering this proposal.

And the latest application, submitted by Saleem Ahmed, proposes three ground floor commercial units with eight flats built above and behind, with the reduced scale aimed at overcoming previous concerns. However, all on-site parking provision has also been removed.

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Giving pre-application advice, council planning officers raised concerns about the potential for student accommodation being provided and the lack of any cycle storage but they welcomed proposals for more housing. As a result, the plans were revised to include cycle parking and the repositioning of some of the flats while the developer confirmed the flats would not be for students.

‘The redevelopment proposal has been carefully prepared to secure a townscape solution worthy of this centrally-positioned urban site in the heart of the Fratton district shopping centre,’ a statement submitted on behalf of Mr Ahmed says. ‘The relationship of the proposed built form to existing commercial and residential development is considered to be successfully achieved.

‘Amendments to the scheme following further consultation with the [council] have been made which has vastly reduced the scale, mass and number of units.’

The council has set itself a deadline of August 29 for reaching a decision.

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