A MAJOR not-for-profit housing company has picked York for its north-east base, the city's Inward Investment Board announced today.

The £185 million turnover Places for People Group has just finished refurbishing its new offices in Bootham, alongside its development of 14 new apartments there.

The 18th century listed building, known as The White House because of its white rendered frontage, has been empty for two years.

It will now be the home of three of the group's nine subsidiary companies - Blueroom Properties, which provides high-quality apartments for rent; Emblem Homes, which develops homes for sale; and JVCo, which provides children's nurseries and employment opportunities in deprived areas.

The other six operations, five of them housing associations, manage between them more than 52,000 homes in England and Scotland and turnover figures for next April are projected to be £197 million. It employs about 2,000 people each year.

The York office, employing 30 people means that the group now has three national support centres, including one in London, and one in Preston, Lancashire.

David Cowans, chief executive of the Places for People Group, has moved from Harrogate to Clifton to take advantage personally as well as corporately, of the London to Edinburgh rail service.

He said: "York is an ideal location for our new group support centre. It has excellent transport links to most major cities around the country and complements our other support centres in London and Preston, along with our network of 27 local offices across the country."

It was Blueroom Properties which developed the land behind the Bootham offices into 14 two-bedroom apartments for private rent.

Announcing the move, Dave Taylor, marketing director of York Inward Investment Board, said: "We were pleased to be able to find suitable city centre premises for the Places for People Group.

"Clearly the accessibility of York by rail from any part of the country was a significant incentive for the company to locate its new office here."

Updated: 11:59 Tuesday, January 21, 2003