A former place of worship in Hereford could become a house of multiple occupation.

The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at Chave Court, off the city’s Grandstand Road, has been out of use since 2021. The denomination uses the term “kingdom hall” rather than church for its places of worship.

An application for planning permission by local architects firm Hook Mason would require “minor internal alterations” to repurpose the building, it says.

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New partitions would create a communal living and dining space on the ground floor, while a new kitchen and washroom would occupy the current washroom.

Further partitioning of the former hall on the first floor would create nine bedrooms for up to 12 occupants.

Externally the building would be unchanged apart from the replacement of two formerly opaque windows, and the addition of an lean-to bin store.

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The planned conversion “will contribute in part to reducing the county’s current shortfall in housing supply, particularly in this type of occupancy”, the firm’s application says.

The change is the latest to be made to former places of worship in Hereford.

Moves are afoot to demolish St Barnabas Church off Venn’s Lane, built only in the 1980s, to make way for a care home. And earlier this month it was announced that the landmark St Nicholas Church near the city’s main Greyfriars Bridge will also close due to a dwindling congregation.

Comments on the this latest application, numbered 233061, can be made until November 23.