Oxford flats approved for site of Lucy Faithfull House homeless shelter

The new six-storey building of 36 flats will be made up of 50% affordable housing

A block of flats is to be built on the site of a demolished homeless shelter in Oxford.

Lucy Faithfull House closed in 2016 amid budget cuts after providing homeless support for 30 years. It was knocked down two years later.

A new six-storey building containing 36 flats will be made up of 50% affordable housing.

Oxford City Council's West Area Planning Committee approved the scheme at a meeting on Tuesday,

The complex, on Speedwell Street, will also include a five-storey block and a four storey block, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Of the affordable housing, 15 flats will be socially rented - allocated to households in high housing need.

Three will be for sale.

Lucy Faithfull House was shut because of budget cuts

Alan Wild, housing development manager for the city council, called the new block a "significant scheme" providing "meaningful high quality accommodation in the area".

Planning officer Michael Kemp said though its height was above the Carfax Datum, a height limit to protect views of the historic city centre, it would not obscure any views.

There will be no parking at the site, apart from two disabled parking spaces.

It will be owned by the authority's housing company, Oxford City Housing Limited.

Lucy Faithfull House, which had 61 beds, was shut as part of Oxfordshire County Council budget cuts.

Oxford City Council said the capacity had been replaced with more dispersed housing.