Cheap Street buildings set to go under the hammer

Grade II listed properties to be auctioned later this month

TWO listed buildings in Newbury town centre may soon be brought back into use when they go under auction at the end of this month.

The properties at 41/41A and 49 Cheap Street, both Grade II listed, are both set to go under the hammer on March 29.

Number 41/41A, which lies next door to the Post Office, has a set guide price of £280,000 while a guide price of £200,000 has been set for 49 Cheap Street, formerly K’S Café.

Last year, West Berkshire Council granted planning permission for the flexible change of use of 41 Cheap Street, meaning the building could in theory be used for anything from an undertaker’s to a nightclub.

In August, town councillors objected to the application, saying they were “uncomfortable” with the wide-range of possible uses which would, they said, give a developer “carte blanche to do whatever it is they would like to do”.

However, West Berkshire Council said the general use would encourage a developer to bring the building, which has stood unused since 2011, back into use.

Auctioneer Savills describes the 2,670sq ft property as a mid-terrace building which “requires modernisation”, with nearby shopping facilities and good transport links.

The listing describes 49 Cheap Street as a three-storey mid-terrace building arranged as a lock-up shop on the ground floor and split level self-contained maisonette with “potential to create two flats”, also in need of modernisation.

Both properties will go up for auction on Wednesday March 29.

It was announced earlier this month that the Post Office in Cheap Street will be relocated to Northbrook Street.