THE deal has been signed which gives the go-ahead to the £8m refurbishment of Oxford’s tower blocks.

But the project to completely upgrade all of Oxford City Council’s five high-rise homes could take nearly a decade.

The city council has said this is to spread the cost out over a longer period of time but residents have criticised the fact it will take up to 10 years. Daniel Elderkin, 28, who lives in the Evenlode Tower in Blackbird Leys, thought the work needed to be given more urgency.

He said: “They should sort it out now, not next year. There’s been mould and damp ever since we’ve been here. They should’ve got on with it three years ago.”

Consultancy firm EC Harris has been appointed to spearhead the scheme and, over the course of the next year, the city council will consult with the tower blocks’ residents to find out what they want.

City councillor Scott Seamons, executive board member for housing, said: “It will take some time to do all the city’s five tower blocks but it is part of our business plan that we don’t do too much in one go.

“The financial constraints of the housing revenue account business plan require a stretched out programme of works and we are not borrowing additional funds.”

He said it wouldn’t necessarily have cost the council more to do it all at once but it was a matter of spreading the cost over a longer period of time.

The five tower blocks date from the mid-1960s and include Evenlode Tower and Windrush Tower in Blackbird Leys, Hockmore Tower in Cowley, Plowman Tower in Northway and Foresters Tower in Wood Farm.

Between them they contain 348 flats and each one will be revamped in turn.

No formal timetable has been set on the order inwhich tower blocks will be updated, but Mr Seamons said it was his intention to do the tower blocks in Blackbird Leys first as part of wider regeneration of the area – followed by Plowman, Foresters and then Hockmore, though this could yet change.

He said: “There will be new cladding so they will look quite different externally. We will replace all the windows and change the heating system as well.

“Hopefully there will be some scope within the project to do some work in the communal areas such as on the lifts.”

Previously the council has considered demolishing the towers but Mr Seamons said it would not make sense to do so and build only a few houses in their footprints when Oxford has such a dire need for affordable housing.

Sophie Hyka, 30, who lives in Evenlode Tower in Blackbird Leys, said: “Personally, I would like them to make an area for children downstairs. I’ve got three children and there’s nothing for them to do in the tower.

“I think it would be nice to make a play area for them.”