Award-Winning Shanklin Guesthouse Could Become Residential Property

An award-winning Isle of Wight guesthouse could be transformed into a residential property due to the business not being ‘viable’ in the long term.

Two owners have submitted a change of use application to County Hall for a conversion of the eight room Foxhills of Shanklin at 30 Victoria Avenue into a marketable home.

‘Personal circumstances’ mean they are no longer able to run the guesthouse ‘successfully’, according to a Planning Statement written by Phil Salmon Planning.

“The change of use will enable the current owners to sell the property, with marketable residential value, and move on,” it says.

“They are of retirement age, and whilst the property has been on the market, there is no interest in it as a guest house.

“The applicants have part owned the business since June 2022 and have operated a popular business which has unfortunately, along with all hospitality businesses, experienced higher energy costs, rises in the cost of living, and the drop in government help post-Covid.

“Over recent years, the guest house business has been impacted from the change in holiday trends such as the growth in very short-term stays, competition from budget national branded hotel chains, the exponential growth and expansion of self-catering accommodation, and finally the take up of ‘Airbnb’ holiday lets.”

County Hall’s public consultation on application 25/01164/FUL ends on October 3 and a decision is due on October 24.