City gets £3.25m from offices sale

It is one of a number of properties put on the market by the council in recent months, including cemetery lodges, stables and even a Victorian public toilet in Headington Hill Park.

The offices in Blue Boar Street were bought jointly by the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship and The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

As well as providing a boost to its budget, the council says the sale will help reduce costs by almost £175,000 a year.

The offices, backing onto the town hall, had been occupied by 60 council staff, but were vacated at the end of April.

The council built the offices in 1996, incorporating the listed facade of Ebor House.

Deputy council leader Ed Turner said: “This is a good result in a difficult market and the sale of this property will lead to further savings for the council, helping safeguard jobs and protect services in spite of the cuts we face.”

Some of the money will be used to improve the council’s offices in St Aldate’s Chambers, opposite the Town Hall.

The council is also hoping to sell Ramsay House in St Ebbe’s Street. It is on the market for £2.8m.

Council staff will be based at refurbished offices at the Town Hall and St Aldate’s Chambers, but many will ‘hot desk’ and work partly from home.

Tim Adams, chief administrative officer for the Christian Fellowship, said: “UCCF and IFES are delighted to have completed the joint purchase of the Blue Boar Street property.

“The central location of the building will serve the vision and mission of both organisations for generations to come.”

The sale of Wolvercote Cemetery Lodge, in North Oxford, brought in £425,000 for the council in February.

The three-bedroom Victorian property on Banbury Road had originally been put on the market a year ago for £525,000.

The unusual property, dating back to 1892, offering views of the graveyard, was marketed as a potential family home. It had been used by the city council as offices but staff were transferred.