A £10 MILLION project to transform a former homeless hostel into flats has begun.

Work has started at Lucy Faithfull House, with 36 new homes set to be on the market late next year.

Built in the 1970s, the former hostel was decommissioned by Oxfordshire County Council in 2015, before closing in February 2016 and being demolished in 2018.

Oxford City Council acquired the hostel in 2017 and is now making headway on the £10.9 million development, which will be a single block of four to six storeys.

Oxford Mail: The former Lucy Faithfull House homeless hostel is to be turned into flats. Picture: Ed NixThe former Lucy Faithfull House homeless hostel is to be turned into flats. Picture: Ed Nix

The project is being overseen by Oxford City Housing Ltd (OHCL) and developers Willmott Dixon, and is part of OHCL’s ambitions to deliver more than 2,200 homes in and around Oxford over the coming decade.

Seventy-two per cent of the development will be affordable, exceeding a council requirement for 50 per cent affordable housing developments of 10 or more homes.

The 36 flats will include 15 council homes let at social rent, three homes at affordable rent and eight homes sold on a shared ownership basis.

The remaining 10 flats will be for market sale.

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Alex Hollingsworth, the city council’s cabinet member for planning and housing delivery, said: “Oxford needs new homes and this flagship project will see OCHL deliver 36 new low carbon homes in the heart of our city.

“And more than that, Oxford needs more new affordable homes, which is why I am delighted that this scheme is providing 15 council homes at social rent and another 11 sub-market homes for affordable rent or shared ownership.”

Helen Horne, managing director at OCHL, added: “Redeveloping the former Lucy Faithfull House site will provide much-needed homes in the city centre and OCHL are pleased to now be working with Willmott Dixon to help deliver these.

“These are early days but this project is an integral part of our plans to build nearly 1,900 sustainable new homes in the coming decade.”

Oxford Mail: The former Lucy Faithfull House homeless hostel is to be turned into flats. Picture: Ed NixThe former Lucy Faithfull House homeless hostel is to be turned into flats. Picture: Ed Nix

The project is being supported with more than £1 million in funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.

The homes also represent an investment in a sustainable future by aiming for at least 40 per cent beyond current Government carbon reduction targets, as the city aims for zero carbon for new developments by 2030.

Each flat will have two bike parking spaces while rooftop solar panels will help generate up to 40 per cent of the development’s energy use.

Richard Poulter, managing director at Willmott Dixon’s central south region, said: “The requirement from the council to deliver a building with sustainability at its heart fits well with the principles of our organisation.

“Through our 2030 ‘now or never’ sustainability strategy, we are on our own journey to achieve net zero carbon in operation within the next decade.”

An archaeological excavation earlier this year unearthed new evidence of a friary which sat on the site from 1246 until after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538.

The new development will reference the Blackfriars’ black and white coat of arms by using light and dark building materials throughout.