New plans have been submitted to turn empty land on Oxford Road, which has been labelled an eyesore, into flats and shops.
Plans to build 26 apartments and two commercial units on vacant land at 262 Oxford Road were approved earlier this year.
But developer Stonegate Homes has now submitted new proposals to build 28 flats plus two shops on the site, replacing all three-bed flats with one or two-bed apartments.
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The new plan is also to build homes to rent rather than for sale.
Stonegate Homes believes there will be zero demand for three-bed homes if they are built at the site.
Haslams, agent for the developer, say the market for apartments in Reading has “cooled” in recent months due to a drop in demand from buy-to-let investor purchasers.
It says all enquiries it receives from prospective buyers are for one and two-bed flats and so wants to remove plans to include any three-bed apartments.
Instead it will replace all three-bed flats with one and two-bed apartments, while also adding an extra two flats with the additional space that will be available.
Just two per cent of enquiries on Rightmove for buying flats in Reading are for three-bed flats, according to Haslams, who believe this is mostly made up of planning agents and valuers seeking comparisons for their own three-bed developments, which are encouraged by Reading Borough Council (RBC).
Previously, a six-storey building with 11 one-beds, 13 two-beds and four three-bed flats were approved, including eight affordable apartments, in a development branded “quite dull” by councillors.
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The new application is for 17 one-beds and 13 two-bed apartments, eight of which would be affordable, and would still be over six storeys covering the same footprint.
Additionally, 23 parking spaces are planned instead of 22 spaces.
The new proposal would not satisfy RBCLocal Plan guidance, which suggests, for developments of over 15 homes, five per cent should be three-bed flats.
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