A FORMER York charity headquarters is set to be converted into a block of flats.

The move will raise vital funds for good causes - but has meant many charities have become "homeless".

The York Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) has agreed to sell its valuable offices, in Priory Street, off Micklegate, to pay for the £1.1 million redevelopment of another of its properties.

Charity bosses say the "rabbit warren of rooms, corridors and staircases" at Community House meant it was "increasingly unsuitable" for use as offices.

But the sale means the Community House tenants - including York and District Mind and the city's Family History Society - have had to move out and find new homes.

The two Victorian town houses at 8-10 Priory Street will be turned into nine two-bedroom apartments by developers Moda, subject to planning permission.

If the deal goes through, funds from the sale will be used to provide capital for the complete conversion of CVS's nearby Priory Street Centre.

In a report to City of York Council, CVS chief executive Colin Stroud, said the Community House buildings had been "crudely converted for office use", but its "rabbit warren of rooms, corridors and staircases offer very poor access and inefficient use of space".

Mr Stroud said the new Priory Street Centre would become a "focal point for voluntary action in the city" by providing 13,300 square feet of modern, accessible floorspace for charitable use.

All the organisations in Community House have now moved out, and several are waiting to move into the Priory Street Centre when it is completed in May 2006.

However, there will not be enough room for all of the displaced charities to relocate there, forcing some to take on commercial leases elsewhere in the city.

A Government grant of £380,000 for the project is available, provided the sale goes ahead by mid-September.

Council officers have recommended that planning permission for the development is granted, and councillors on the city centre planning committee will debate the proposals next Thursday.

Updated: 10:37 Friday, September 02, 2005