Marlborough House 18 Upper Marlborough Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3UT Data via plota.co.uk

26/1866/PACR - Prior Approval Commercial to Resi. Pending Consideration

Proposal

Prior Approval - Change of use of existing commercial floorspace (Use Class E) to 60 residential units (Use Class C3) Data via plota.co.uk

Track application Save this application and get an email when its status or decision changes. Alerts nearby Get email alerts for new planning applications near this address.

View original council record ↗Last checked 19 Oct 2026, 18:14

Street View

Application progress

✓

Received

15 Oct 2026

✓

Consultation

19 Oct 2026

Decision

Expected by 10 Dec 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision between 9 Dec 2026 and 24 Dec 2026, from St Albans's recent changes of use.

Comments are open until 22 Nov 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Documents 11

Site constraints 4

St Albans - Hatfield Road and the Office Core conservation area

Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.

The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.

Council document ↗

Article 4 direction

St Albans City Core. Named permitted development rights are withdrawn here.

An Article 4 direction withdraws particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application needs one here. Not every council has published its directions.

Also on the record

Radon affected area, class 2; Inside the St Albans built-up area.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No listed building at the site

Checked on 19 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

Work with planning data?

Every application in St Albans - and every UK council - as a live feed, an API, or a bulk CSV export.

About Plota's data service

Other new applications on this street

28 Aug 2026Refused

Blenheim Gate 22-24 Upper Marlborough Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3UU

2X (T1, T2) HORNBEAMS FELL DUE TO PROXIMTY TO BUILDING AND UNSUITABLE TREE FOR ...

TP/2026/0424

19 Jul 2026Approved

Car Parking For First Floor Offices Churchill House 26-30 Upper Marlborough Road St Albans Hertfordshire

Various works to trees around the boundaries refer to application for full detai...

TP/2026/0352

5 Jun 2026

34 Marlborough Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3XQ

Loft conversion with rear dormer window and front rooflights

5/2026/1090

Nearby new applications

15 Oct 2026Approved

16 Lemsford Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3PB

FELLING OF DEAD STANDING CYPRESS (T3) To fell and remove the dead standing Cypre...

26/0527/TPO5

13 Oct 2026Pending

28 Alma Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3BW

T1 Sycamore - Fell to ground level - Due to outgrowing its location. T2 Yew - Cr...

26/0524/TCA

12 Oct 2026Pending

1 The Moorings Althorp Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3PL

T1-Hornbeam tree to crown reduce back to previous pruning points by 2-3 metres f...

26/0522/TCA

12 Oct 2026Pending

The Boot Ph 4 Market Place St Albans Hertfordshire AL3 5DG

8 Tables, 2 barrels and 8 benches

26/0002/PAV

9 Oct 2026Pending

32 Liverpool Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3UJ

Loft conversion with rear dormer and front rooflights, replacement front windows...

26/1834/HSE

4 Oct 2026Pending

31 Liverpool Road St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3UN

T1 - FIG TREE - Reduce Fig tree height back to previous reduction points / suita...

26/0510/TCA

Important details

Council: St Albans
Application type: Prior Approval Commercial to Resi.
Postcode: AL1 3UT
Received: 15 Oct 2026
Validated: 15 Oct 2026
Ward: St Peters
Parish: Unparished Area
Target decision: 10 Dec 2026
Applicant: Show
Agent: Gemini Planning Services Ltd

Decision outlook

Day 5 of the 56-day target. St Albans usually decides changes of use by day 55.

prediction

Day 551 days to the 56-day target

52%decided within 8 weeks

71%approved

32decided in the last year

Plota live figures for changes of use decided by St Albans in the last twelve months, from validation. St Albans decision record →

Public comments

No public comments yet.

96 neighbours consulted · Last counted 19 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference: PP-15291406
Planning Portal ref: PP-15291406
Neighbours: 19 Oct 2026
Consultation: 19 Oct 2026
Comments by: 22 Nov 2026
Site or press notice: 29 Oct 2026
Statutory expiry: 10 Dec 2026
Env. assessment: No

St Albans

Planning Authority Score

1.1/10

Poor

#290 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Change of use

St Albans is one of the slowest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #285 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 64% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

Among the slowest councils in England

for householder decisions

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance

St Albans decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

87%

Overall approval rate

Above avg (87%) #180 of 296

88%

Householder approved

Below avg (90%) #226 of 296

29%

Decided in 8 weeks

Below avg (63%) #285 of 296

64%

Extended time limit

Above avg (41%) #278 of 296

74%

Minor dwellings approved

130 decided (1-9 homes)

61%

Major dwellings approved

18 decided (10+ homes)

77%

Change of use approved

26 decided

1,411

Total decisions

184 refused in the year to March 2026