COUNCIL chiefs are set to spend thousands of pounds on improving Evesham’s Cemetery Lodge in a bid to boost the amount of money the authority can make from renting the property out.
Following the departure of the long-term tenants of the Waterside lodge in July, Evesham Town Council has now drawn up plans to make a raft of improvements to the building before they rent it out.
The £6,500 works will include sorting out the damp and plastering in the hallway, knocking out the downstairs loo to convert it into storage space, replacing skirting boards, re carpeting the bedrooms and redecorating the house in neutral colours.
The Town Council owned property is expected to fetch around £800 to £825 a month and a possible tenant has already been lined up to move into the property which will be managed by Timothy Lea & Griffiths.
The Town Council is set to bank £713 each month from the property once it is rented out.
At a planning committee on Monday, councillors agreed to recommend to full council money should be spent on improving the property. Once approved by full council, the works could begin within two to three weeks.
However, there was a dispute at the meeting over whether or not a tenant had been lined up, with Coun Alan Booth claiming the potential tenant had found another property to move into.
“We don’t have a tenant lined up,” he said.
“I know what the report says that there is a possible tenancy agreed, but what he said was he can get a better house than this for less money, which he can.
“He was supposed to come back to us within a certain amount of time and he hasn’t done that, so I would take that as he’s gone somewhere else.
“We need to sell this or let it straight away. It’s as simple as that now because this is dragging on.”
In response, the Town Clerk Stuart Carter told the Observer has far as he is aware the tenant is in the process of having his application and references reviewed by estate agents.
