There is said to be a need for more care accommodation in Barnet, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

The property in Cricklewood set to be turned into a children's care home (credit Google) — The property in Cricklewood set to be turned into a children’s care home (credit Google)

A property in Cricklewood is set to be converted into a care home for children.

An application for the conversion of the residence into a children’s care home has been submitted to Barnet Council.

The house, which is located at 233 The Vale, is a semi-detached property and spans three floors. The proposal includes four bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and three bathrooms, one on each floor.

The planning statement from architects Domenech Designs Ltd shows how the government’s quality standards for children’s homes has been applied, with each child to have their own personal bedroom, plus “appropriate accommodation” for staff.

The need for ‘C2’ accommodation in the area has been a topic of discussion at council meetings. Earlier this week the council’s planning committee approved plans for a property in Monken Hadley to be converted into supported housing for adults with mental illness.

C2 accommodation refers to housing for people in need of care, which the Cricklewood proposal falls under.

However, a neighbour has criticised the plan by saying the street has issues with “additional cars taking every space on the road” and property developers “flipping” houses into “multiple flats for high profit”.

They said: “The fabric of this community is being lost with every change the council approve.”

In 2021 a former applicant submitted plans to convert the same property into three-self-contained flats and add an extension but this application was withdrawn.

More information on the scheme can be found via Barnet Council’s planning portal, using reference number 24/0651/FUL.

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