A huge transformation of a Sutton town centre building into 359 co-living homes and a new music venue has been given the green light.
Sutton Council has backed plans to dramatically overhaul St Nicholas House, in St Nicholas Road, with parts of the existing building set to be demolished and extensions rising as high as 15 storeys.
The major development will bring hundreds of new residents into Sutton, alongside commercial space and an area which could become a new music venue and drinking establishment.
Plans also include new communal amenity areas, landscaping and cycle parking as part of the redevelopment.
Rather than razing St Nicholas House completely, the scheme will retain and refurbish parts of the existing building while adding substantial new sections of five, eight and 15 storeys.
At the centre of the development will be 359 co-living units, a form of shared accommodation where residents have their own living space while sharing wider communal facilities.
The plans will therefore give the long-standing town centre building an entirely new purpose, combining hundreds of places to live with businesses and leisure uses in the same development.
A music venue and drinking establishment could also form part of the scheme, alongside more conventional commercial space.
The council has now formally granted planning permission following an application which was validated in May 2025.
A large number of studies were submitted as part of the plans, looking at everything from the development’s impact on daylight and Sutton’s skyline to noise, traffic, air quality and biodiversity.
While the green light clears a major hurdle for the scheme, there are still several requirements developers will have to meet before work can begin.
One of the biggest concerns during construction will be keeping disruption around the town centre under control. Before demolition and development begin, an updated construction logistics and management plan will have to be approved by the council in consultation with Transport for London.
Developers will have to spell out how construction vehicles will be routed, where materials will be loaded and stored and how mud and other debris will be kept off surrounding roads.
The council said the construction phase needs to be “carefully managed” because St Nicholas House sits close to major roads and bus routes, with measures required to avoid congestion and obstruction. Dust, noise and vibrations from the work will also have to be controlled.
The site’s neighbour, St Nicholas Churchyard, has also shaped some of the conditions attached to the approval. Before work starts, developers will have to agree protections for wildlife, including measures for nesting birds and mammals and controls on construction lighting.
Sutton Council has been busy reshaping the borough this year: it is also consulting on a draft order that would ban dogs from Overton Park and Recreation Ground, while four local MPs have called for more school bus services in the borough.
