TWO homes in the gardens of a central York hotel have been approved by City of York Council.

The application is a renewal of an earlier approval concerning the rear grounds of the Mount Royal Hotel, on the corner of the Mount and Albemarle Road, which expired before Christmas.

An existing building, workshop and storage buildings would be demolished to allow for the single-storey scheme within York’s Historic Core.

The hotel said reducing the footprint of buildings on the site from 304.4m2 to 240m2 would benefit the character and appearance of the conservation area, with the homes not visible from the public domain.

“All houses have been designed in a contemporary style with a parapet flat roof detail in order to remove any impact to the street scene and neighbouring buildings including the Hotel.”

A report by council planning staff noted no comments were received from neighbouring residents following council consultation. The plans were the same as approved previously.

It concluded: “The proposals achieve an appropriate layout, scale, design and appearance which respects the character and appearance of the area.

"The proposals are considered to have less than substantial harm on heritage assets and would not result in a detrimental impact on residential amenity or highway safety.”