Chancellors looks to sell up
A planning application pinned outside Chancellors estate agents, in Market Street, is seeking permission for change of use to residential. The application is made in the name of Justcrest Ltd, a company connected with Chancellors.
The office has been unmanned since last year and all sales have been handled through the company's Chipping Norton branch. If the closure goes through - bearing in mind that West Oxfordshire District Council last year refused a similar application for News & Things - then it would leave Charlbury with just one estate agent, Fairfax & Co, down from three a few years ago. However, in their application, Justcrest point out that WODC is only seeking to protect shops and post offices, and that the Chancellors office falls under a different category (financial & professional services).
The application says that the change would "restore the original use of the building; it is not particularly suited to office use due to its domestic form and layout". Explaining the reasons for the closure, it continues: "The nature of an Estate Agent business is evolving, with increased access to the internet [sic] and there is therefore less demand for smaller agency offices such as that the subject of this application."
If the application is approved, the flat above the office would be combined with the ground floor to create one single residence.
Full details are on the WODC planning website.
Richard Fairhurst · Mon 4 May 2009, 17:43 · Link