A PLANNING application to convert a former office building in the centre of Malvern into housing has been sent in to Malvern Hills District Council.

Portland House, at 129 Church Street, was built in the 1840s as a home, and later became a hotel, and then the office of an insurance company, the headquarters of the Severn River Board Authority, and then a council office. It has been vacant for several years.

Now City and Suburban Properties Ltd has applied to convert the building into 12 flats. The proposal involves the demolition of a single-storey side extension and rear stair tower.