Eyesore former Cradley Heath mission hall could be converted into supported living flats

Edgeview Homes has submitted plans to Sandwell Council asking for permission to re-purpose John Owen House, the former mission hall, on the corner of Grange Road and Waterfall Lane in Old Hill, Cradley Heath.

The six supported living units would provide 24-hour residential care for adults aged between 18 and 65-years-old with learning disabilities, mental health problems, autistic spectrum disorders and complex needs.

The application said the former hall had been “neglected” and was in a “poorly maintained state.”

Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox with the Express & Star’s free newsletter

Last year, Sandwell Council approved plans to convert the former Old Furnace pub on the opposite of Grange Road into flats.

The dilapidated former pub, which closed in 2010, had been the subject of different applications to convert it into offices, a shop and new homes.

An application to convert the building into a shop was rejected in 2024 with the council saying it would prefer to see the pub’s car park reinstated to prevent the road – and bend – from becoming obstructed.

A move to build five new homes after demolishing the pub was also approved by Sandwell Council in 2021 but never went ahead.

This came after a separate application to convert the pub into offices and storage space for a landlord and property developer was rejected a year earlier.

Sandwell Council also turned down plans to convert the pub’s former car park, which had long been fenced-off, into a hand car wash and ‘specialist’ valeting service saying it was “inappropriate.”

The council added that the car wash plans were “poorly designed and incompatible with its surroundings” when it turned them down last year.