A SWANAGE guesthouse is to be converted back to family accommodation – reflecting a growing trend locally.

Dorset Council has approved the change of use for the Caythorpe Guesthouse in Rempstone Road, just a short distance from the beach.

It has been one of the highest rated tourist businesses in the Swanage area on platforms such as Trip Advisor over recent years.

The permission allows for the change from guest house with owners’ accommodation to become a residential house and two self-contained flats. Alterations planned for the building are said to be mainly internal and relatively minor.

A planning agent making the application highlighted several other holiday businesses which have recently changed use in the town.

“Whilst the loss of a guesthouse in a thriving seaside town is regrettable, such establishments are not necessarily profitable due to wider structural changes in the holiday market, which have been accelerated by the recent pandemic. Put simply, the costs of running small hotels, and the reducing demand for such accommodation has meant these are becoming unprofitable, even in highly desirable seaside locations such as Swanage,” said the report to Dorset Council.

The agent said a recent example has been the change of use of Tower Lodge, Ulwell Road, from use as a hotel to a single dwelling house after being marketed for two years as a going concern, but not attracting any offers as a business.

The agents say the ten-bedroom Castleton Hotel on Ulwell Road, and the twelve bedroom Limes Hotel on Park Road are also currently for sale.

The Caythorpe, listed as having seven letting rooms, is on the corner of Rempstone Road and Victoria Avenue. It has been used as a guesthouse since 1987, having been extended after getting planning consent in 2015 to provide garaging with two self-contained flats above.

Application papers to Dorset Council say the current owner is retiring. The property was put on the market with a local estate agent in July 2021, only receiving one offer from the applicants who have agreed to buy the building at the end of the season. They asked the council for permission for the change of use, explaining that they were looking for a larger property close to the town centre and want to use the guesthouse as their home, rather than a business.

Swanage town council said it is disappointed about the potential loss of important holiday accommodation in the town centre but raised no objections to the proposals for change of use.

Town councillors said they were pleased that the two self-contained flats will be available as long lets for the local community.