Councillors claim apartments planned for Sheffield city centre would be too small to live in

Developers are hoping to convert grade 2 listed buildings on Garden Street into 19 studio apartments, which could also be used as an "aparthotel".

But Green Party councillors say the proposed sizes for the flats is significantly below recommended guidelines which suggest 33 square metres for a studio and 47 sq.m for a one-bed flat.

They say one of the studios is only 19.5 sq.m and there are one-bed flats of only 26.3 sq.m, both almost half the recommended size in the guidelines.

None of the flats meet the size guidelines and councillors also say there's no green space planned.

Coun Ruth Mersereau said: “We are seeing increasingly frequent applications for very small flats and studios in the city centre.

“Living in small spaces is bad for people’s mental and physical health and made worse by the lack of green space in the city centre.”

Coun Martin Phipps added: “There are plans to have more people living in the city centre, as higher density housing has a lower carbon footprint, but not enough thought is given to the conditions residents are expected to live in.

"Higher density housing must not mean substandard housing. A city centre for people to live in should mean more green spaces, more parks, easier cycling and walking, less traffic and less car priority.

"These things would make it a city centre more people would want to visit and shop in, as well as a greener one.

“If we are serious about more people living in the city centre, it’s time we reject applications for small housing and start building the city centre we need to see.”

In the plans, developers say the scheme is constrained by the listed buildings and location and shape of the site and say it reflects the density of other schemes in the area.

The Green councillors have formally objected to the application, which is still being considered by planning officers.

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