THE first floor of an empty Barclays bank in an Oxford neighbourhood could become flats.

The bank branch on London Road, Headington, closed in May, after it was revealed that only 68 customers used it for their banking.

The first floor of the building, which is owned by developer Bradford Securities, may be turned into flats without permission from Oxford’s City Council, which usually has to approve all new building projects in the city.

If the project is allowed to go ahead without a lengthy application process, the developer has said the old banks upstairs office will be turned into three ‘generously sized’ one bed apartments.

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The building work could go ahead swiftly because of an area of planning law called permitted development, which allows buildings to be converted without an official seal of approval.

But official documents have still been submitted to the council’s website, testing the water to see if the building can be converted through permitted development laws.

If not, then Bradford Securities will need to go through the planning process for an official ‘change of use’ for the upper storey of the building.

Documents submitted to the council also show that extra sound insulation could be put in place between the ground floor and the new first floor flats, to stop any noise from downstairs lifting up through the ceiling.

Under the plans, the old bank’s ground floor would remain as a vacant unit ready for a new shop to fill.

Separately, one of the company’s directors, Simon Ryde, won an appeal earlier this year to build an extra floor on top the building which would similarly contain three one-bedroom flats.

Read again about when the plans for a metal-clad extension to the roof were given the go-ahead here

This planning application had been turned down by the city council, as it was worried that the three flats, in the form of a metal-clad extension on top of the old building would look out of place.

There were also worries that the new extension would cause extra shadow on to other nearby buildings.

But a planning inspector called C Osgathorp disagreed with the council’s decision, and said there were similar flats in the upper floors of shops on London Road.

Permitted development rules were changed in 2016, allowing for old offices and other buildings to be converted into homes.