Bromley Development Finance: 3 Unit Residential Scheme at 15 Wickham Road Enters the Pipeline

A new residential conversion has entered the Bromley planning pipeline. Application 26/00815/NOT, covering 15 Wickham Road, Beckenham, BR3 5JS, is currently pending decision, according to the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox).

The proposal, as described on the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox), is a change of use from a commercial building (Use Class E) to form 3 flats (Use Class C3) with associated car parking, cycle storage and refuse provision under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended). It is a 56 day application for prior approval in respect of transport and highways, contamination, flooding, natural light to habitable rooms and noise impacts from commercial premises under Class MA.

The register confirms 3 units are proposed, with the scheme recorded as residential use class, per the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox). The application was received on 24/02/2026, again per the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox). Our desk estimates a gross development value of around £990,000 for the completed flats, a Construction Capital estimate based on the scheme details published on the London Borough of Bromley planning register (Idox).

Where it sits in the borough

Class MA conversions of this size are a steady feature of the BR3 market: commercial stock on established roads like Wickham Road converting to flats without a full planning application. Beckenham sales values support small conversion schemes at this price point, and prior approval routes shorten the consenting timeline considerably compared with full applications. We track schemes like this across the borough on our Bromley development finance page, where sponsors can compare the funding routes open to local projects.

The finance angle

A three flat conversion under Class MA typically needs two things: acquisition or refinance funding for the commercial building, and a facility for the conversion works. Because prior approval is a lighter consent than full planning, specialist commercial lenders and bridging specialists will often lend against the site once the 56 day determination period resolves in the applicant's favour. On a circa £990,000 GDV, sensible senior debt sits in the range most challenger banks and development lenders will consider for a first time or established converter, with the works element drawn in stages against a monitoring surveyor's sign off.

The exit matters as much as the entry. Three flats can be sold individually, refinanced onto a portfolio buy to let product, or bridged onto a development exit facility if sales run past the loan term. Pricing the exit before drawdown is where small schemes most often go wrong.

Our read

Our advice to the sponsor here, and to anyone running a similar Class MA project in Beckenham or wider Bromley: line up a decision in principle before the prior approval lands, get the professional team's costings into lender ready shape, and have a development exit quote on file from day one. We arrange site finance and exit funding for schemes of exactly this size, and a pending decision is the right moment to start the conversation, not after completion.