A new application to turn Camden's former Branch Hill care home in Hampstead into flats is on the register. The 2021 consent lapsed; comments close 2 November.
A new planning application to turn Branch Hill House, the council’s former care home off Branch Hill in Hampstead, into private homes is on Camden’s register. The reference is 2026/4167/P. It was made valid on 24 September and registered on 1 October 2026. (Camden Council planning register, application 2026/4167/P)
Comments close on Monday 2 November. Camden’s record gives that as the earliest date a decision can be made, and the Greater London Authority’s copy of the same record lists it as the last date for consultation comments. The decision target is 19 November. (Planning London Datahub, Camden-2026_4167_P)
The site has had permission for flats before. Camden’s Planning Committee approved a conversion in August 2021. Nobody started it, and the permission lapsed in August 2024. This is the second attempt.
What the application asks for
The register describes the scheme as:
- change of use of Branch Hill House from a care home (Use Class C2) to residential (Use Class C3)
- external alterations to the original house
- demolition of the 1960s care home extension
- a replacement building in its place, including basement accommodation
- a new-build element the applicant calls “the Coal House” on the north flank of the original building
- plant, access, servicing, parking and landscaping
The description does not say how many homes are proposed. The drawings and the planning statement sit on Camden’s planning portal, which we could not read on Saturday. We will add the figure when we can.
The applicant is recorded as Beth Mellior Construction Ltd. The case officer is David Fowler in the council’s Planning Solutions Team, the same officer handling the BT Tower hotel application. The ward is Frognal and the site is inside the Hampstead Conservation Area.
The GLA record currently marks the decision route as delegated, meaning officers would decide it rather than councillors. That can change: the 2021 permission went to committee.
The house, and what happened last time
Branch Hill House was built as a private residence in about 1901 by Ernest Flint. The land has a longer history: the sales brochure says there are records of a house on the site from the early 18th century, designed by Henry Flitcroft. Camden Council demolished what remained of the original and built a modernist extension in the 1960s, when the house became a care home. (Savills, Branch Hill House brochure, July 2025)
The care home closed in 2015. It had 62 bedrooms when last in use. The building is not listed, but Camden treats it as a positive contributor to the conservation area. The Spedan Close estate next door, to the south west, is Grade II listed. The site is 0.7 hectares, about 1.7 acres, and is reached from Branch Hill or Heysham Lane. Hampstead tube station is around 500 metres away.
The first application, 2019/6354/P, was made valid on 20 December 2019. The GLA record of it shows:
- 30 homes proposed, 26 for market sale and 4 for social rent
- 61 bedrooms across the new homes
- 47 care home bedrooms lost
- approved by Camden’s Planning Committee on 11 August 2021
- lapsed on 11 August 2024, because condition 1 required a start within three years
(Planning London Datahub, Camden-2019_6354_P)
The Savills brochure puts the lapsed scheme at 28 apartments, with 4,320 square metres of sales area. The two figures come from different documents and we have not been able to reconcile them.
A second application, 2023/3060/P, for a single house to the north of the main building, was made valid on 26 July 2023. The GLA record still shows it as received, with no decision. The brochure says a resolution to grant it exists.
Who has owned it
HM Land Registry’s price paid data records Branch Hill House changing hands for £15,250,000 on 26 November 2020, eleven months after the first flats application went in and nine months before it was approved. The entry sits in the category the Land Registry uses for sales to companies and sales under a power of sale, rather than ordinary house purchases. (HM Land Registry price paid data, NW3 7LS)
By July 2025 the house was for sale again. Savills was marketing it “acting on behalf of fixed charge receivers”, which means a lender had taken control of the property. The brochure invited offers for the freehold, under title numbers BB11534 and BB9093, with vacant possession.
No later sale has yet appeared in the price paid data, so we cannot say from the public record what the current applicant paid or when the sale completed. Companies House has no company under the exact name on Camden’s register. Its nearest match is Mellior Construction Ltd, a Liverpool-registered developer incorporated in June 2022. (Companies House, Mellior Construction Ltd) The application form, once we can read it, should settle which company it is.
What it means for you
- If you live near Branch Hill, Spedan Close or Heysham Lane, you have until 2 November to comment. Use Camden’s comment form for 2026/4167/P. Your name and address are published with your comment; your phone number and email are not.
- Expect a long build if it is approved. The scheme demolishes the 1960s wing and digs a basement. The access roads are narrow residential streets.
- The care home is not coming back. It closed in 2015 and the 2021 permission already accepted the loss of the C2 use. This application does not reopen that question.
- No affordable homes figure yet. The 2021 scheme carried four social rent homes out of 30. Whether this one offers any will be in the documents we could not reach.
- Other current applications across the borough are on our Camden planning news page.
We will update this page when the number of homes is confirmed, if a committee date is set, and when the decision is published.
Sources
- Application 2026/4167/P, Camden Council planning register (open data), read 11 October 2026, for the description, dates, applicant, ward and case officer.
- Camden-2026_4167_P, Planning London Datahub, Greater London Authority, for the last date for comments, decision target and decision route.
- Camden-2019_6354_P, Planning London Datahub, for the 2019 application’s unit numbers, committee approval and lapse.
- Branch Hill House brochure, Savills, July 2025, for the building’s history, the 62 bedrooms, the 2015 closure, the site area, the conservation area status and the lapsed scheme’s floor areas.
- Price paid data, NW3 7LS, HM Land Registry, for the November 2020 sale.
- Mellior Construction Ltd, Companies House, read 11 October 2026.
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