A York church hall, once used as a dance hall, could become three flats.

York-based Tower Estates has applied to city of York Council to convert the first floor of 133 Lowther Street in The Groves part of York.

The building, built around 1960, contains a SPAR shop on the ground floor, with the Trustees of Acorn Christian Fellowship using the first floor until recently.

The fellowship gave notice that it would not renew its lease from March 16 as it had not attracted the numbers to make this financially viable. It had leased the 0.043ha site since March 2021 but in future would use other community facilities for meetings.

The planning application to City of York Council further explained: “The first floor was originally used as a dance hall for which there is no longer a need and the space has proved difficult to lease out in the past having been advertised for lease for over 9months before the church group took it on.”

If approved, the application added each of the one-bed flats will have an open plan living and kitchen area, spacious bedroom and separate shower rooms. There would also be an access corridor to the rear connecting to the existing stair access and fire escape at the far end of the building.