A FORMER bed and breakfast that was purchased by the council for £1.2m to house rough sleepers will now become a private home.

Royal Borough planning officers approved fresh plans to convert Cedar Tree House in St Leonards Road, Windsor, into a family home with two dormer roofs on the south side elevations.

The council initially bought the property, which housed the homeless during Covid-19, for £1.2m at auction with plans to convert it into seven studio flats for temporary housing for rough sleepers.

However, the previous Conservative administration decided not to take the project forward after it required a further £490,000 investment and anti-social behaviour concerns were raised by neighbours.

READ MORE: Council ditches plans to convert Windsor B&B into flats

Some nearby residents said their right to peace and quiet and enjoyment of their homes and local environment was ‘greatly diminished’ when the vacant 10-bed property was used to house the homeless during the pandemic.

They also said this is the ‘wrong place’ to provide temporary housing as it is close to a school and family homes.

Instead, the council decided to invest £150,000 in refurbishment works to turn the former bed and breakfast into a family home and sell it for £1.15m.

READ MORE: Council's Windsor bed & breakfast purchase labelled a "mistake"

That decision was criticised by the incoming council leader Simon Werner (Lib Dem: Pinkneys Green), who said it was an “insane thing to do” to sell it at a loss.

The previous Conservative council leader Andrew Johnson, who lost his seat, denied it was a “financial mistake,” adding an “explosion in inflation” in building costs significantly impacted the project.