A DERELICT sheltered housing complex in Jericho will be refurbished as private flats, under sell-off plans set to be agreed by Oxford City Council tonight.

Grantham House, in Cranham Road, has been boarded up for two years and looks set to be sold for more than £3 million.

The council will use the money generated by the sale to upgrade existing council homes.

But Jericho Community Association says the site should be used to provide some much-needed affordable homes in the area.

The council has carried out a complete review of its property portfolio and is selling off buildings, including cemetery lodges, former housing blocks, redundant public toilets and city centre offices.

The authority agreed to off-load Grantham House, which had housed 20 senior citizens, in 2007 but the downturn in the housing market delayed the sale.

Following recent marketing of the property, 12 bids were put forward and the top six bidders were interviewed by the council.

Details of the sale price and the names of the bidders have not yet been made public.

But, according to council reports, the preferred bidder will not need planning consent for its proposed refurbishment and is likely to offer the flats for private rent.

Council policy states that anyone “creating” more than 10 new homes must provide at least 50 per cent as affordable housing.

But this will not apply as the Grantham House flats already exist.

Hopes that a housing association would buy the site were dashed due to cuts in public funding for such developments.

Jenny Mann, secretary of Jericho Community Association, said: “We would welcome the building being refurbished and lived in and we would hope a high proportion would be affordable flats.

“Oxford needs affordable housing, Jericho is very expensive.”

The report says an alternative option, demolishing the block and selling the site as development land, was investigated.

It would have led to affordable homes being created as part of any new development but the council said it would have meant a much lower sale price.

Colin Cook, executive member for city development, said the council would have lost around £2m if it had gone down the redevelopment route.

He added: “Three million pounds will go into sorting out council housing across Oxford. Any money above £3m will go, as first priority, to funding social housing in Jericho.”

The council’s executive board will be asked to make the decision tonight at Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate’s, at 5pm. The public are welcome to attend.