The former Lamb Inn in Longdown is set to become five self-contained flats after Teignbridge District Council granted planning permission for the scheme, backing plans that will see the village pub and two existing flats converted into new homes with parking, cycle and bin storage, solar panels and a stand-alone bat roost.
The application proposes the conversion of the public house and two flats into five flats, creating a net gain of three dwellings.
Council documents say the scheme includes parking in the former pub car park, a bike store, a bin store, solar panels on the roof and a bat roost building in the garden to the rear.
The design and access statement says the five homes would be arranged as two flats on the ground floor, two on the first floor and one in the roof space.
Planning papers show the Lamb closed in 2022 and has since been marketed on both a leasehold and freehold basis. In the planning statement, the applicant’s agent said there had been “no offers received”.
A financial viability appraisal submitted with the application concluded: “In our opinion, unfortunately the Lamb at Longdown is unviable as a business, which is reflected both in the failed marketing exercise and the negative viability assessment above”.
It added: “Substantial investment would be required in order to bring the property back into use, and the potential profit of a reasonably efficient operator, even cross-subsidised by rental income from the flats above, does not justify that investment”.
The officer’s report makes clear the proposal raised a policy tension because the site lies in open countryside, where new dwellings are generally restricted, and because the Lamb was the village’s only pub.
The report says the scheme did not meet the local plan’s countryside housing policy and that “the principle of a new residential dwellings in this location is considered to be unacceptable”. However, officers ultimately found that separate policy tests on the loss of local facilities had been met after reviewing the viability evidence and the length of marketing.
The report states: “It is considered that the FVA submitted with this application has demonstrated that the use of the building as a pub is no longer viable in the long term and criterion of Policy WE12 has therefore been met.”
Support for the plan appears to have been strong. The officer’s report says 33 letters of support were received, with comments including that “it is important for the building to be occupied again”, that “the pub is no longer viable”, that the proposal would provide accommodation in the area and benefit the community, and that it would safeguard “an historic building”.
Holcombe Burnell Parish Council also backed the application, citing “almost unanimous support in the community” expressed through Facebook and comments on the application.
The council also recorded environmental and amenity issues in its decision. A condition requires the ecological recommendations to be followed in full, including the provision of a stand-alone bat roost building and bird nesting boxes, with the reason given as: “To safeguard legally protected species, and to ensure no biodiversity loss.” Another condition requires a 1.8m privacy screen beside the rooftop terrace of Unit 4 before it is occupied, “in the interest of residential amenity”. Parking, bin storage and cycle storage must also be completed before the flats are brought into use.
On the wider impact, the council said the proposal would “facilitate the re-use of an existing building”, while officers concluded the change to five flats was likely to generate fewer vehicle trips than the former pub use.
The report also says the scheme would not cause worse harm to the setting of the nearby Grade II listed Longdown War Memorial than an earlier approved scheme, and that there was enough parking space on site to serve the development. At the same time, the loss of the village pub remained a significant issue in the planning balance, with officers noting that three extra dwellings alone would not outweigh losing the only pub in Longdown without the viability case.
Permission was formally granted on Monday, March 10, subject to conditions. The decision notice says the development must begin within three years, and the scheme must be carried out in line with the approved plans.
The officer’s report also records a Community Infrastructure Levy liability of £135,757.16 and an upfront habitat mitigation contribution of £1,005 linked to the net gain of three dwellings.
