Bradford House will be converted into student accommodation, after the council approved a planning application.

The site, which is currently not being used, will be used by University of Creative Arts students. The building will also provide replacement ground floor office space.

Developers Willco Properties Ltd hope to complete the development by September 2020, which will allow the halls to be operational ahead of the academic year.

Cllr Tony Axelrod said: “Bradford House has not been used for a number of years and I am pleased that it is going to be used. It is a positive that UCA students will be using the building, as this is a positive for businesses in the local area.

“One concern is that we need to make sure that we have a good stock of office space in Epsom, we have had office space in Epsom for a number of years and need to make sure this continues. However, this specific site was not being used.”

The planning application was approved on Thursday, July 19. The new building will be able to house 99 student’s bedrooms.

The site is a short six-minute walk from Epsom High Street and Epsom Station, which has direct links to central London.

The accommodation is also a 10-minute walk to the universities Epsom campus, which is on Ashley Road.

There is not an official start date for building on site yet as the decision is subject to a legal agreement and pre-commencement planning conditions.

]However, the developer is looking to bring this forward at the earliest opportunity in order to be operational for the 2020/2021 academic year.