THE upper floors of a Grade II Listed council-owned shop in Tavistock are to be converted to two flats at a cost of almost £32,000, in an effort to maximise income to the council.

Last week town councillors heard there were two options under consideration for the upper floors of 13 Duke Street — conversion to a four or five bed flat at a cost of almost £21,000 or to two smaller units.

Cllr Roger Mathew warned that not only was it more expensive to convert to two flats, there were greater administration costs to consider.

He said the turnover of tenants in small flats was frequently between six and 18 months, and there would be associated re-letting costs to cover.

Tenants tended to stay far longer in larger accommodation, said Cllr Mathew.

But Cllr Betty Batchelor pointed out there was a need for single person housing in the town centre.

'I would support smaller accommodation — it's meeting a greater need,' she said.

Cllr Norma Woodcock said: 'It's often young married couples without children who come to live in one-bedroom flats. It's a very good use of in-town space.'

Cllr Peter Donkin said: 'I find it difficult to imagine what sort of individuals would be looking to live in a five-bedroom flat in the centre of town — those sort of people would be more likely to be looking for a house.'

And Cllr Jenny Metcalf said she felt one large flat could well become a 'white elephant' to the council.

'We are far more likely to let two small flats than one large one,' she said.

Councillors agreed to go for the two-flat option, with an additional sum of around £1,100 being spent on providing a toilet for the shop on the ground floor.