A former Douglas guest house that fell into serious disrepair is set for a new lease of life as flats, if planners give their support to a new application.

Owner Alan McCracken has submitted an application (20/00012//B) for the former Pitcairn guest house, in Church Road Marina, in Douglas.

The proposal, if approved, would see the former guest house turned into five self contained flats. Supporting documents for the application show that there would be one three-bed flat, three two-beds and one single bedroom flat.

The three-bedroom flat would be created by combining the ground and basement floors.

If approved, it will mean a remarkable turn around for a building, which along with the adjacent Wyndham guest house, fell into disrepair and were the subject of court action by Douglas Council before being bought as a pair at auction for £100,000 in 2018.

However, only the Pitcairn as 2, Church Road Marina is considered in this application.

Mr McCracken, of Abbeylands, has undertaken a considerable amount of work to bring the Pitcairn up to standard.

It was previously reported as having structural issues including holes in the roof with a tree growing out of it and scaffolding was being used to support all the floors.

The flats will not come with any parking.

However due to their location just off the Douglas promenade conservation zone and being in a town centre, it is likely this will need to be relaxed by planners if the building is to have a future.

The planning application also highlights that the building is close to the promenade which has a frequent bus service, is a short walk from the Lord Street bus station and has roads in the vicinity of it where vehicles can be parked on.

Prior to the auction of the former guest houses, the buildings had formed part of Douglas Borough Council’s efforts to tidy up the island’s capital by enforcing action on owners who neglected their buildings.