OXFORD City Council is putting more residential homes up for sale, despite its growing housing waiting list.

Two houses near Horspath sportsground have gone on the market for sealed bids of more than £375,000.

They are the latest property off-loads by the council of its unwanted buildings.

But Horspath resident Keith Brooks said the pair of semis had been empty for years and should have been used for one of the many families on the council’s housing waiting list, which is about 6,000 people.

He said: “They have been empty for at least 10 years and just left. The gardens are all overgrown. The council keep harping on about building in the green belt because there are so many homeless, yet there are two houses sat here empty.

“How many more city council houses are in the same position?”

The council said it had been reviewing its property holdings, a move that has seen ‘For Sale’ boards go up at a number of buildings over the past 12 months, with a combined price tag of more than £10m.

In addition to the Horspath homes, a house in Jericho and an East Oxford terraced home have gone on the market in recent weeks. The city council has seven properties up for sale, but is “considering options” for a former park ranger’s house in Shotover Country Park that was ravaged by fire in May.

Head of property Steve Sprason said in many cases it was better to sell and reinvest the cash than bring homes back into use for council tenants.

He said the sale of the Horspath properties had been delayed by the presence of asbestos and a restrictive covenant.

The council was last night unable to say how much asbestos was in the house and where it was found.

Mr Sprason said the council did not own significant amounts of property outside of the city centre and had a small number of residential houses in its portfolio.

He added: “These inevitably hark back to the days when we had park keepers or cemetery keepers living on site.

“Nobody delivers services like that anymore.

“People say we’re selling the family silver, but often there is no practical purpose we can put them to.

“They have a high value and we are looking to fund other services across the city.”