A derelict Coventry hotel devastated by two huge fires last year could be demolished for housing. Developers Avant Homes want to build 62 homes on the site of the old Allesley Hotel on Birmingham Road.
Part of the hotel dates from the early 1800s and is considered important to the area’s local history. But the blazes in February and May destroyed many of the building’s inside features, planning documents reveal.
Fixtures and fittings that had survived the hotel’s slide into disrepair are “lost or damaged beyond salvage,” a report said. Of the historic parts left, most have been altered, damaged or decayed over time, it added.
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The fires hit the headlines and police told local media at the time that both blazes were believed to have been deliberate. The incidents came after several other reports of “deliberate” fires at the hotel which closed in 2022.
What the new homes in Allesley could look like
(Image: Avant Homes)
A survey with plans confirmed the building has been hit by at least three arson attacks and “extensive” vandalism. Thieves have stolen materials from the roof and windows have been broken, the authors said.
Floors and stairs are rotting, walls and ceilings are damp and mouldy, rooms are filled with rubbish and much of the building is damaged and failing, they wrote. Surveyors concluded the hotel is “beyond repair” and knocking it down would be the “most appropriate outcome.”
The former Allesley House was mostly remodelled in the early 1900s and converted to a hotel in the 1950s. It gained a large extension at the back in the 1970s as well as a car park.
The whole 1.9 hectare site including its grounds is in a local conservation area, meaning special planning permission is needed for demolition. But statements with plans claimed the building has “limited significance” which has been “undermined by the fires.”
Developers also said it would be replaced by a block of flats in a similar size and style. They claimed most locals, including a conservation group, said they were in favour of redeveloping the site from a survey and discussions.
Housebuilders did admit people have concerns over the details of the scheme, such as access and parking, but they defended their plans. If the scheme goes through, 44 houses and 18 flats will be built on the land.
More details of the scheme can be viewed on the council planning portal via reference: PL/2024/0002270/FULM.