A planning application has been submitted this week to bring the Old Customs House on Quay Road back into use. The plans, reference 26/04117/FUL, are for 42 homes, a café open to the public on the ground floor and a new riverside walk along the building’s waterfront. You’ll be able to comment until 13 November 2026.
Built in 1838, the Old Customs House is one of the finest historic buildings on the harbour, but it has stood empty since 2011. The application has been made by Wrenmouth Heritage Homes Ltd.
What’s proposed
- 42 homes: 14 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom and 8 three-bedroom flats, 13 of them affordable homes
- A public café on the ground floor, in the building’s former Long Room, overlooking the water
- A riverside walk: a new 180-metre public path along the quay edge, open to everyone
- Restoration of the stone frontage, the original windows and the clock tower
- Parking: four accessible parking bays and 84 secure cycle spaces, with no other parking on site
How to comment
We’re checking that the application includes everything we need. It will be added to our planning applications list on Friday 23 October 2026 and listed for 21 days. Comments must reach us by 13 November 2026.
You can comment by email to planning@larkhaven.example or by post to Planning, City Hall, 1 Quay Square, Larkhaven LK1 1AA. Include the reference 26/04117/FUL, your name and your address. We publish comments with your name and street, but not your email address or phone number.
What we can take into account. Comments need to be about planning issues, such as the design, the effect on the historic building, the impact on neighbours, traffic and flood risk. We can’t consider issues such as the effect on property values.
The Old Customs House matters to a lot of people in Larkhaven, so we want as many people as possible to look at these plans and tell us what they think. Every comment about planning issues will be read and summarised in the report to councillors.
Kathryn Lowe, Head of Planning
What happens next
The application is expected to be decided by the Planning Committee on 9 December 2026. The meeting is open to the public and webcast. If you’ve commented on the application, you’ll be able to ask to speak at the meeting.
Because the council will decide the application, we can’t give a view on whether it should be approved until the officer’s report is published with the committee agenda.
