IFFLEY Road residents have said they are sorry to lose a “good neighbour” as Exeter College prepares to sell off nine houses.

The college has decided to sell the houses, which are on a 1.19-acre plot and are valued at £6.75m David Barton, of Iffley Road Area Residents Association, said: “Exeter College has been there for a very long time and we have always been able to resolve our differences.

“Inevitably when this many properties come on the market all at one time, a neighbourhood gets concerned.”

The houses were built as part of a 19th century building scheme of nearly 300 properties between Meadow Lane and Iffley Road.

It is understood they are covered by a single deed of mutual covenant which prevents more than one house being built on each plot.

At the moment the buildings are used to house students and the site’s surveyors have said part of the block could be returned to its use as a hotel.

But the row of houses could also be kept as student homes or bought as an investment.

Christopher Aquilina, from surveyors AOS Studley Spring4, which is marketing the site, said there had been “loads of interest” in the houses from private investors and developers.

Mari Girling, of Iffley Fields Residents Association, said: “The Iffley Road is a conservation area and we would oppose any development that proposed demolition or altered the traditional streetscape.

“These are 19th century residential villas, and this is a particularly well proportioned set of houses each standing in its own substantial garden. A good developer could make a thoughtful restoration.

“Several houses of this period in the area have recently been sold and modernised as family houses, while another has been developed into high-quality flats.”

The sell-off proposals have already sparked concerns in and around the Iffley Road community. The Oxford Civic Society has called for the homes to be sold as family housing, and not to accomodate students. And speaking to the Oxford Mail last week, Magdalen Arms landlord Tony Abarno said he would oppose any attempt to demolish the houses and redevelop the site.

Exeter College has spent £12m purchasing the Ruskin college building in Walton Street which will be vacated in September.

Last night the college was unavailable for comment.