An eyesore former pub could now be converted into flats under new plans.

The latest move to breathe new life into the former Old Furnace pub in Old Hill would see the building converted into two new flats.

The pub closed 14 years ago and has since been the subject of applications to convert the building into offices, shops and housing. Sandwell Council had agreed for the pub to be demolished in 2021 to make way for new homes but the work was never carried out.

A statement included with the new application said: “We feel that the existing derelict building is an eyesore and our client is willing to spend money to convert and provide housing for the local community.

“The current use of a public house is no longer desired at this location, therefore we feel that planning consent should be granted.”

Sandwell Council turned down an application to convert the former pub, next to Sandwell Council’s taxi licensing offices in Waterfall Lane, into a shop earlier this year.

The council’s highways department said converting the former pub into a shop might cause more accidents as it would not provide enough parking spaces – forcing people to park on the street.

The land that was the pub’s old car park, which was used for storing cars and vans after the pub closed and is now fenced-off albeit partially collapsing, was not included within the boundary of the application and the council said it would at least like to see the car park reinstated.

The council said cars parking on the street would also force drivers into swerve around obstructions into oncoming traffic.

The council also said a new shop should open in either town centres in Old Hill, which at the time of the decision had ten empty units, or Blackheath, which had nearly double the amount of empty shops. 

“The proposed investment should be directed towards these centres,” the council’s planners said. “Only if these premises are demonstrated to be unavailable or unsuitable should edge-of-centre or out-of-centre premises be considered.”

Having closed in 2010, the Old Furnace was quickly converted into a three-bed home without planning permission. A retrospective application was later approved by Sandwell Council. 

A move to demolish the ageing pub and build five new homes was approved by Sandwell Council in 2021 but the work was never carried out. This came after a separate application to convert the pub into offices and storage space for a landlord and property developer was rejected a year earlier.

The application by Fakher Shafia Ali, who submitted the latest application for flats, to convert the pub into a shop was rejected by Sandwell Council in August.