Plans to turn Warwick's medieval Leper Hospital into houses and flats have been approved by Warwick District Council.

Planning permission has been granted for St Michael's Chapel to be turned into a one-bed house, whilst the Master's House can now be converted into a two-bed home.

And a three-storey apartment block with eight one-bed flats has also been approved for the land behind the Grade II listed buildings.

The application was submitted by West Midlands Heritage Buildings Trust in conjunction with WDC and Platform Housing Group.

The application states that the site will be used for affordable housing.

A CGI representation of the site (Image via WDC)

Adding: "Warwick District Council are working in partnership with Platform Housing Group and propose to sympathetically repair and convert both listed buildings to single dwellings, facilitated in part by the construction of a new apartment building to the rear of the site.

"The partnership has a successful track record of bringing listed buildings within the area back into use.

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"The most recent example of their success is the neighbouring Gasworks development."

The Master's House is currently covered in scaffolding given its poor condition

The district council served a compulsory purchase order for the hospital in January 2021 stating that the current owners, who purchased the site over 30 years ago, had allowed it to become "structurally unstable".

As part of the process, the council submitted this planning application in May that year.

And whilst the owners, who have carried out repair work on the chapel, objected to the order, it was approved by the Secretary of State in September.

However the order did give the owners the chance to submit their own planning application by the end of 2021.

Saltisford Leper Hospital, which is one of only three remaining in the country, dates back to 12th century when the site was first used by Roger de Newburgh.

The current buildings are from the 15th century and were converted into cottages in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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Remains of further medieval buildings still remain under the grass. It is thought that these were accommodation the cooks, brewers, general servants who ran the hospital - as well as those being given shelter.

The owners have carried out restoration work on the chapel