Rufus House hotel in Lyndhurst to be turned into seven flats after permission granted by New Forest National Park Authority

A FORMER hotel in Lyndhurst is to be turned into seven flats despite residents complaining over “overdevelopment”.

When the 11-bedroom Rufus House hotel was open it was widely praised on review websites with guests praising its “charm”, “quirkiness” and “beautiful location”. One called it a “haven in the New Forest”.

Permission had already been granted for a change of use of the Victorian building on the corner of Southampton Road to residential for one home.

But Smart Property Group then submitted an application to create a pair of two-bed flats and five one-bed apartments with nine parking spaces and a cycle store.

Residents objected to the plan with one claiming it was “excessive” for a plot of its size in a “prominent corner location in the conservation area”.

Another highlighted concerns over “the number of flats being created at the expense of family homes”.

Others were worried about parking, saying not enough spaces were being provided which could see owners and visitors parking on the road outside.

Lyndhurst Parish Council also objected on the grounds of lack of parking, saying the surrounding roads were already “saturated” with residential parking and visitors to the village. It also pointed out the lack of affordable housing.

But some residents were in favour of the flats with one saying the hotel – which closed in 2023 – “has been on the market for years with no one prepared to maintain it”.

Another suggested there will be “less parking from the hotel tourists and fewer bedrooms than the former hotel”.

One resident said the apartments would provide “lower-cost non-retirement-focused living accommodation.”

In a report to the national park authority planning committee, a planning officer said the adopted Local Plan sets a target of delivering 800 net new dwellings in the national park by 2036.

They said that the flats would be a “windfall” provision of new homes which would help reach this target adding: “Small-scale windfall sites such as this make an important contribution towards meeting identified local housing needs on previously developed land.

"There is a finite supply of previously developed land within the New Forest National Park and therefore it is important that effective use is made of sites that do come forward for redevelopment.”

The parking, they said, “is in accordance with the residential parking standards and it would not be possible to sustain a reason for refusal on this basis”.

The officer concluded that “the overall principle and design of the proposed alterations and extensions are considered acceptable and will conserve and enhance the locally listed building and the wider conservation area.”