Couple win eight-year planning battle to turn £550,000 bank into their retirement home - but it took so long that now they have to sell it

By JAKE HOLDEN, UK NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:50, 8 July 2026 | Updated: 11:54, 8 July 2026 A couple has won a hollow victory in an eight-year planning battle to turn an old bank into their dream retirement home as it took so long they now have to sell the property. Pat Sharp and her husband Nigel bought the empty Royal Bank of Scotland building for £550,000 eight years ago in Westgate, North Berwick, Scotland. It was an exciting prospect back then as the couple thought of the possibilities of their new home - perhaps recreating Pat's late mother's seaside holiday with the grandchildren. Nigel, 79, has Parkinson's disease, and so the Sharps wanted to convert the property to be accessible for him. This was the beginning of their planning woes. The 'exhausting' battles with East Lothian Council dragged on for so long that the elderly couple was unable to move in. Pat said last year after the most recent refusal: 'My husband has been robbed of the chance to spend his final years in what we wanted to be our dream home, looking out over the North Berwick coast and remembering all our wonderful times here.'  Now, after finally being permitted to turn the building into a residential home, the pair has been forced to put it straight on the market as Nigel now needs full-time care. Pat said: 'It was never about making money, just building a beautiful and appropriate house in North Berwick for my family to enjoy - a lasting legacy. Pat Sharp said she and her husband Nigel were 'robbed' of their 'dream home' after an eight-year planning battle with the council that took so long they now have to sell up The couple wanted to convert the building to be accessible for Nigel, 79, who has Parkinson's disease. They were refused till last month, but now Nigel needs full-time care so can't live here East Lothian Council wanted to keep the building for commercial use and has now said the first floor can be residential while the bottom floors can be used as two offices 'Obviously, we're disappointed not to be able to build that house, particularly as the banking site was more than half residential historically.' The couple originally paid more than double the £250,000 asking price to secure the property, and faced issues after the council insisted that the building must remain a commercial building. Applications were turned down time and again over nearly a decade, all the while Nigel's condition slowly and tragically worsened. East Lothian Council finally approved plans for the building - keeping the ground floor as offices and allowing the creation of a first-floor flat above it with a separate access door. But it came too late. Pat will soon have to put the property up for sale anyway. She hopes someone else can complete their dream and make the most of the stunning house. She said: 'It's been a very long, exhausting journey, and now I have planning permission for offices downstairs and a flat upstairs. 'I'm advised by estate agents it is a wonderful investment opportunity, and it will be available very soon. 'I just home that East Lothian Council communicate properly with the new owners and don't drag everything out - I wish them the best of luck!'