Black & White Bridging funds church conversion into residential units and restaurant

20 June 2023

Specialist lender Black & White Bridging has provided an £880k facility to support experienced property developers Bedstone Developments, with the purchase of a Grade II listed church in central Bath.

The property, located close to the historic Pulteney Bridge and within the UNESCO world heritage site of central Bath, is set to be converted into nine luxurious apartments plus a restaurant once planning permission is obtained. Whilst currently empty, the main chapel dates to 1789 and in addition, there is a suite of community rooms set out across multiple floors including a basement.

The local owners have completed many similar projects in the region and are highly experienced at regenerating dormant buildings and constructing new dwellings. They were introduced to Black & White Bridging through broker Steve Barrett from Southwest Business Finance.

Steve commented: “This is an exciting development for our client and in a prime location in Bath. We were delighted to work with Black & White to get this one over the line and cannot wait to see the result.”

David Newton of Bedstone Developments said: “We are thrilled to have secured this opportunity with the assistance of Black & White and will shortly be submitting our planning application for this exciting mixed use development.”

Oli Bland, Director of Lending at Black & White said: “We fully support projects like this where an unused property will be converted into new housing stock and a prime location restaurant. Being based just outside of Bath, it is always pleasing when we complete a deal locally. The property has so much potential, I am really looking forward to watching the scheme progress and seeing the finished product.”