North Gate House, situated in Valpy Street near Forbury Gardens, previously served as an office for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Campaigners staged a demonstration in a nationwide day of action called by Chris Packham following the publication of the DEFRA State of Nature report in September 2023.
BBC Springwatch star Chris Packham sparks protest outside Reading’s Defra offices
Government employees vacated last year, with the building being listed as permanently closed.
AEW, which is one of the biggest asset owners in Reading, acquired North Gate House in April last year and applied to convert the building at 21 Valpy Street into 78 flats.
The conversion will create 44 two-bed, 18 one-bed and two three-bed apartments, and 16 studio flats.
Once complete, future occupants will be able to make use of eight disabled car parking spaces and 11 car share spaces, which is a reduction from the 33 spaces provided when it served as offices.
The project has since been approved by Reading Borough Council’s planning department.
The application was submitted through permitted development rights allowing the conversion of offices into homes which was introduced by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2013.
This effectively allows all conversions provided rules on living standards for future occupants are complied with.
You can view the approved application by typing reference PL/24/0799 into the council’s planning portal.
AEW also owns Broad Street Mall and the Harris Arcade.
