MORE than 50 student flats could be built next to a city church as part of a major new plan.

The plan would see a new student accommodation building with 54 flats built next to St Clement’s Church in Henwick Road in Worcester.

St Clement’s Church Hall, which was built in 1909 but has been empty for several years, would be demolished to make way for the new block as part of the plan by developer New Venture Housing, the same people who are building student flats on the site of the former Images nightclub in The Butts.

No car parking spaces would be provided but cycle storage for 54 bikes would be built.

The developer said the new accommodation block would help cut the reliance on the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in St John’s and the rest of Worcester.

A statement included with the application said: “The proposed development will contribute towards reducing reliance on privately rented HMOs within Worcester which will free up housing within the city and its surrounding area for other sectors of the community and wider housing market.

“The council recognises the need to assert greater planning controls on HMOs and has introduced guidance to restrict new applications for HMOs within the St John’s area of the city.

“These proposals will therefore help to increase the available stock of student accommodation is a purpose-built development which will help the council to achieve its policy objectives on controlling HMOs.”

The new block would be the second large student accommodation building to be built within 200 metres of each other in Henwick Road.

Major work to convert the landmark former home of the city’s YMCA, into student flats finally started in 2021 after years of delays.

The listed building, also in Henwick Road, which was home to Worcester’s YMCA until 2019, will be converted into 163 student apartments as part of multi-million-pound plans by Space Developments.

The work was originally expected to have finished in time for the start of the academic year in 2020 and the building was put back up for sale in 2019 with an almost three million pound asking price.