Plans revealed to turn Bristol pub into home for people with learning disabilities 

A former Bristol pub is set to be turned into supported living accommodation for people with learning disabilities.     

The former Fulford House pub on Fulford Road in Hartcliffe, which was once one of south Bristol’s most popular pubs, is set to house up to 20 residents from the start of next year.     

Bristol-based supported living and home care provider Hazelcare has taken on management of the building, which closed as a pub in March 2020.     

Following closure, it was converted into two separate HMOs - a house in multiple occupancy - both with 11 bedrooms each in 2022. 

Hazelcare bosses told BristolWord each resident will have their own bedroom, with the two additional rooms being used as offices.     

“The landlord got in contact with us, told us what was going on, we had a look around and we liked what we saw,” explained Hazelcare’s general manager Sasha, who preferred not to give her surname.       

“All the work’s been done, it’s ready to move into, but we need to get a few referrals first of all before we can even think about opening it, so it will be in a few months time."

Hazelcare, which also supports people with mental health conditions, will fill the rooms on a referral basis through local councils. The company is also currently recruiting support workers for the facility.    

The layout of the site sees the main pub building housing 11 bedrooms, and an extension to the back of the ground floor of the pub housing another 11 bedrooms. 

Sasha says they will open one unit at a time, and once the first is full, they will open the second.    

“We did originally want to open it straight away, but there wasn’t many referrals, so we thought we’d leave it for a while until we got everything else full,” added Sasha, with Hazelcare already running nine supported living houses across Bristol and the West Country.    

Sasha also said that some Hazelcare staff are currently living in the building, ahead of residents moving in.     

“We’ve got quite a high rental cost that we’re paying, so we usually get houses for the staff to live in, so we thought seeing as we haven’t got any residents at the moment, our staff can be held there until we get up and running,” she added.   

Plans to convert Fulford House - which was one of only two pubs in Hartcliffe - into bedsits were met with controversy in 2022.       

The plans were approved despite more than 100 objections and neighbours warning the HMOs would become a “viper’s nest of illegal activity”.