Church HQ in North Hinksey finally set to become flats

The new owner of St Lawrence House in North Hinksey is forging ahead with the plans after a five-year delay.

It will see the palatial building, which formally housed all the administrative staff for the Oxford Diocese, turned into a very quirky apartment building – complete with a circular tower.

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Estate agent Jon Silversides of Carter Jonas, who oversaw the sale of the building, confirmed last week: "We sold this to a large local occupier who still have plans (and consent) to convert into flats to be used for their staff."

He added: "This remains their plan, but other matters have been more pressing."

The Oxford Diocese put its former home St Lawrence House on the market in October 2015 after deciding to move to a bigger home in a new office block called Bannister House at Langford Locks business park, Kidlington.

The 8,054sq ft estate could have become an office block, a hotel or a restaurant, subject to planning permission.

The building has a mixture of 'cellular' and open-plan office accommodation, toilets, a kitchen and a lift, as well as an array of solar panels on the roof.

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It also has a large car park which was previously used by staff and would be perfect for residents.

The church's estate agents Carter Jonas received 12 offers and settled on one in January 2016.

In August that year, Oxford construction firm Basil Wyatt & Sons applied for planning permission to turn the £2m former stately home into 15 apartments.

Vale of White Horse District Council, the planning authority for North Hinksey, gave permission for the plan in October that year.

However the council made several conditions.

Firstly, it said that the conversion would have to begin within three years.

The council also said that, before the first flat was occupied, the building's owner must submit a revised parking plan that showed how small service vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes would be able to move around the car park, turn around and leave it in forward gear, i.e. without having to reverse out onto the road.

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In spring 2017, having got planning permission for the conversion, Basil Wyatt put the building back on the market, having renamed it from Diocesan House to St Lawrence House, a nod to the North Hinksey parish church next door.

Mr Silversides said in April that year that he had already narrowed initial offers down to ‘best bids’ and was now arranging a final contract of sale which should take four-to-six weeks.

As well as having outline permission for the flats conversion, Carter Jonas also suggested on its online listing for the property that ‘future modest development is considered likely within the grounds subject to planning’.

Now the building's new owner is finally set to start converting the interior into flats as soon as life returns a bit more to normal.

It is still not clear who the new owner is or what their exact plans are.