Paragon Bank has provided a £3.8m development finance facility to fund the conversion of a historic office building in Bath city centre into 15 private apartments.
The lender’s development finance division, part of the FTSE 250 group, has completed its second transaction with ORM Developments. The facility supports the conversion of Chartist House, an office building on Trim Street, and the scheme has an expected GDV of about £6.2m on completion.
Chartist House sits within both the Bath Conservation Area and the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. Designed in the early 18th century as a series of Georgian townhouses, it was later converted into offices, and the scheme will return it to residential use.
The development will comprise a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The city centre location is close to retail, leisure and cultural amenities, and Bath Spa railway station, less than half a mile away, has direct services to Bristol, London and the wider South West.
Work is due to start in late 2026, and the first apartments are expected to launch in September 2027. The scheme will keep the building’s historic frontage and add energy-efficiency measures, including improved thermal insulation and a hybrid heating and hot water system.
Bath has two universities and a student population of around 28,000. The ONS reports an employment rate of 78.2% across the South West, against a national average of 75.1%.
“This is the second development on which we have worked with Paragon, after it financed another residential conversion of a listed office building in Bath with us recently,” said Rob Moore, director at ORM Developments.
“On that project, the team at Paragon showed a clear understanding of the project’s strengths and worked with us closely to deliver a funding solution that facilitated the successful delivery of the project. We enjoyed working with the team, appreciated their approach and are very happy to have started our next project together.”
Paragon portfolio manager Anisha Thawrani supported the development finance deal.
“Bath remains one of the South West’s most desirable residential markets, underpinned by strong demand and a limited supply of new homes in prime locations,” said Craig Seaborne, senior portfolio manager at Paragon Bank, who led the deal.
“We are pleased to be supporting ORM Developments on another project and look forward to seeing the development progress.”
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