A GROUP of tenants will lose their homes after a charity sold the historic York apartment block where they live.

Tenants in York's Rowntree Wharf are being asked to vacate their flats now the building has been sold by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation(JRF).

The five-storey building, a former flour mill on Navigation Road, off Walmgate, was bought by the charity and converted into flats and offices in the late 1980s.

It is home to 68 apartments plus two businesses and although the majority are long leaseholders with 'substantive protection' under statutory housing legislation, five residents have been asked to leave by November 4 after JRF sold the freehold to Rougemont Estates last year.

In a letter to the affected tenants, JRF said: “The foundation is in the process of selling Rowntree Wharf to Rougemont who will be taking over possession of the freehold of the building. As a result of the sale we are obliged to end our current assured tenancies.

“I realise that this may well be unwelcome news, but the new owners have indicated to us that they do not wish to continue the current rental arrangements.”

The Press reported in October last year a JRF spokesperson said: “The terms of the lease are carried over in the sale process and the new freeholder will be bound by the same terms and the legislative framework.”

But one resident who wanted to remain anonymous and has had a letter asking them to leave, said: “Joseph Rowntree must have known that the sale would result in tenancies being ended for some time, and yet have opted only to tell people two months before they need to be out.

“Finding new accommodation in such a short time-frame is going to be difficult in a city like York.”

John Hocking, executive director of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, said: "We wrote to all residents of Rowntree Wharf last week informing them that we had exchanged contracts with a buyer and that we hoped to complete the sale by December.

"The majority of residents are leaseholders and, as we have said previously, will be unaffected by the sale. Five residents rent their flats and the new owners have told us they do not wish to continue this arrangement. We have therefore notified them that their tenancy will come to an end within the legal notice period. We have made sure to give tenants as much time as possible to find a new home."

Rowntree Wharf was originally one of the largest flour mills in Europe. It was designed by Walter Penty and founded by Henry Leetham in 1860.

The building was situated on the river Foss, near what was then the slum district of Hungate. It was supplied with grain by barge to the original mill, situated where the car park is today.

The mill closed in 1930 and in 1935 it became the Rowntree and Co’s Navigation Warehouse, but this gradually fell out of use as road transport replaced river transport, although cocoa beans were brought to the wharf until the 1960s.