An Oxford homeless charity has warned the city council about the long waiting list for homes after the local authority agreed to transfer 350 more homes into their housing stock. 

Homeless Oxfordshire made the comments after Oxford City Council made the decision to transfer 354 homes at Barton Park into the housing revenue account. 

A total of £73,092,761 was triggered for this. 

Reacting to the news Simon Hewett-Avison, CEO of Homeless Oxfordshire, said: “Every day we see the impact that a lack of suitable affordable housing has on people who are ready to move into their own homes from supported accommodation. 

“Delays of this kind can undermine recovery and affect mental and physical health, as well as costing around £1,260 per person per month. It is promising to see Oxford City Council taking practical steps to increase the amount of social and affordable housing in the city, but with over 10,000 households across Oxfordshire on local authority housing waiting lists, there is still a huge amount to be done before this begins to markedly benefit the people we support.”

READ MORE: 'Sadness' expressed over vandalism of Oxford war memorial

Barton Park (Image: Contributed) Speaking at a recent cabinet meeting, Louise Upton, cabinet member for planning, said: “This is fantastic news. Another 350 homes for people on the waiting list. We've managed to make it work so well. This is what really good house building councils do.”

The decision means that the council can now take a transfer of the 168 residential units from Oxford City Housing (Investment) Limited to the Housing Revenue Account. 

They will also acquire the remaining 184 units directly from the developer Barton (Oxford) LLP. 

Before the meeting Linda Smith, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: "This is a good thing for everyone.

"Tenants will still be paying social rent and get more rights. OX Place will be free to focus on building high-quality affordable homes.

"The HRA will gain more than 350 new homes, and the rent their tenants pay will make a valuable contribution to our plans for delivering more council homes and improving our existing properties."

Susan Brown, leader of the council, added: “We welcome the transfer of tenancies at Barton Park to the HRA.

"This will allow OX Place to focus on the development of new homes across Oxford."

When work to build the first homes at Barton Park started in 2015, government finance restrictions meant councils could not use the HRA to fund the building of affordable council homes.

Instead, the council used low-cost borrowing to finance Barton Park’s affordable homes from its general fund. This meant they could not be council housing.

However, the lifting of borrowing restrictions in 2018 removed this need.

The decision of the cabinet will need to be rubber-stamped at the full council meeting on Monday, November 25.