The latest move to breathe new life into the former Old Furnace pub in Old Hill would see the building transformed into two new apartments.

The pub closed its doors 14 years ago and has since been the subject of applications to convert the building into offices, retail and housing. Sandwell Council had agreed for the pub to be demolished in 2021 to make way for new homes, but the work was never carried out.

A statement included in the new application said: “We believe the existing derelict building is an eyesore and our client is prepared to spend money converting it and providing housing for the local community.

“The current use of a pub is no longer desired in this location, which is why we believe planning permission should be granted.”

Sandwell The council rejected an application to turn the former pub, located next to Sandwell Council’s taxi licensing offices in Waterfall Lane, into a store earlier this year.

The council’s highways department said converting the former pub into a store could cause more accidents because it would not provide enough parking spaces, forcing people to park on the street. The land which was the former pub car park, which was used to store cars and vans after the pub closed and which is now fenced although partially collapsed, has not been included within the scope of the application and the council said it would at least like to see the car park rehabilitated.

The advice said cars parking on the street would also force drivers to navigate around obstacles to enter oncoming traffic.

The council also said a new store should open either in Old Hill Town Centres, which at the time of the decision had ten empty units, or in Blackheath, which had almost double the number of empty stores .

“The proposed investment should be directed towards these centres,” council planners said.

“Only if it turns out that these premises are unavailable or unsuitable should premises on the outskirts or outside the center be considered.”

Closed in 2010, the Old Furnace was quickly converted into a three-bedroom house without planning permission. A retrospective application was subsequently approved by Sandwell Council.

A move to demolish the aging pub and build five new homes was approved by Sandwell Council in 2021, but the work was never carried out. This came after a separate application to turn the pub into offices and storage space for a landlord and property developer was rejected a year earlier.

The application by Fakher Shafia Ali, who submitted the latest apartment application, to turn the pub into a store, was rejected by Sandwell council in August.