Historic Derbyshire bank up for auction after gaining approval for conversion into flats

An historic Derbyshire bank is up for auction with a guide price of £600,000 or more three months after gaining approval for conversion into flats.

The former RBS bank in Snitterton Road, Matlock, was granted permission by Derbyshire Dales District Council for conversion into 16 flats.

Now, it is due to be auctioned by SDL Auctions on Thursday, November 21 at 9am with a guide price of £600,000 or more, referring to the site as a “superb investment opportunity”.

It details the site will provide eight one-bed apartments ranging from 42-48 square metres and eight two-bed apartments ranging from 71-129 square metres, with “ample” parking space, communal gardens and electric vehicle charging spots.

The advertised auction details that currently part of the grounds are rented out as a car park, bringing in £27,000 a year, with rent of £15,000 per year. Garages are rented for £12,000 a year.

Councillors approved plans from Matilda Fraser to turn the historic Grade-II listed former bank, opposite Matlock Bridge, into four flats while 12 further flats would be built in an extension, replacing the existing 1950s extension.

This brought to an end years of to-ing and fro-ing over the prominent site’s future, with previous plans for 22 apartments rejected in 2021 and rebuffed at appeal in 2022.

The new design, approved by councillors, would see an extension building featuring a a flat “green” roof with wildflowers, foliage and solar panels, along with swift and bat boxes and a permeable driveway aimed at allowing water to seep through into the ground.

Six of the flats would have balconies and the site would have 14 parking spaces – less than one per flat – with a chunk of the site already sold off to a neighbour to provide them with a rear parking spot.

James Boon, agent for the applicants, had said the new design would “help save this historic building” and was a way to find a solution for all involved.