Plans thrown out for holiday lets near Nottingham railway station

Plans to temporarily turn parts of a prominent Nottingham city centre building into Air BnB-style rooms has been thrown out by planning chiefs.

The new owner of Portland House on Carrington Street wants to undertake a comprehensive refurbishment of the building, which has traditionally housed students.

When submitting the plans in May, Warhinder Khamba said he needed to “address the the urgent problem of a lack of income generation” from empty rooms.

A planning statement added: “It is proposed to tackle this issue by letting some rooms to non-students. This would be on the basis of short term lets/Airbnb type accommodation for those visiting the city either as tourists or on short-term work contracts and would be for a temporary period of three years until the refurbishment works have been completed. It would not be used to accommodate persons in need of permanent accommodation.

“No alterations to the building are proposed and the number of residents would not exceed the permitted number of 55.”

However, the plans were refused on Wednesday (September 20). A statement from Nottingham City Council said: “The proposed mixed use of student accommodation and short-term/holiday lets would fail to take the opportunity for renovating and positively re-using the Portland House building, and would constitute a use that is not commensurate with the regeneration ambitions of the area. Maintaining the existing poor condition of the building would prejudice the wider regeneration and transformation of the area.”

The ground floor of Portland House is home to popular bars Cured and Barley Twist and a Greggs.