WINCHESTER civic chiefs have awarded £90,000 to a social enterprise to revamp a house for the homeless.

The money will help refurbish the property in St Johns Road run by Keystone since the early 1990s.

Keystone (Winchester Churches Housing Group Ltd) has 22 units of accommodation in three properties for single homeless people.

The St Johns Road property has four bedsits and an office but is currently in poor condition.

Its refurbishment will convert it into three one-bedroom flats and a bedsit flat at a cost of around £180,000.

The office will move to the Trinity Centre in nearby Durngate.

The rest of the money will be raised through a loan.

The council’s £90,000 grant will come from the Section106 Developer Contribution Fund, levied on developers gaining planning permission.

The fund currently has £1.3 million available to fund new affordable housing developments.