A SEARCH for empty buildings to house the homeless has failed to find a single suitable site, the city council has said.

Despite approaches to Oxford University and businesses, no buildings have been secured – an outcome described as‘very disappointing’.

A plan to start a search for the buildings gained cross-party support from Oxford City councillors in April and officers were asked to work with the university and firms.

The search was triggered after a group of squatters, known as Iffley Open House, moved into a number of buildings around Oxford at the start of the year.

Green Party leader on Oxford City Council, David Thomas, initially proposed the council looked into how empty buildings could be opened up but said the authority had been half-hearted about finding any outcome.

He said: “I got the motion through [the city council in April] and asked them to commit to it. The officers had been told to do a study but that not that much money was going to be put into it. It’s very disappointing that no buildings have been brought forward.”

Oxford’s homeless population is said to be growing by up to 25 new people every month.

The Iffley Open House group opened up the former VW garage in Iffley Road as temporary accommodation over the winter.

They moved in on New Year’s Eve but left in February so redevelopment work could begin.

After that, the group moved into the former Osney power station and then a vacant restaurant in Summertown. After being evicted from those, they took over a unit above the former Sainsbury’s in Cowley Road.

This led to calls for the wealthiest land-owners in the Oxford to help with a permanent site this winter.

Oxford University said it remains ‘genuinely committed’ to working out a solution despite the search drawing a blank so far.

Spokesman Matt Pickles said: “We have been in talks with Oxford City Council but unfortunately we do not have any available buildings which would be suitable for temporary use as a homeless shelter.

"We want to continue our conversations with the council and we will offer help if a suitable building becomes available. We are genuinely committed to working with these partners to help Oxford’s homeless, particularly as winter is approaching.”

In a separate draft homelessness strategy revealed last month, the authority conceded homeless shelters ‘are not always an appropriate or sustainable solution’ for people and that opening up empty buildings could be preferable.

It said it has been ‘proactive in identifying empty commercial sites’, but was unable to say how many there are of those in Oxford.

The council has reduced the number of empty homes in the city over the last two years – bringing a total of 365 in 2015 to 303 in March this year. It also used compulsory purchasing powers to buy one vacant home.

It was granted a gold standard award for its work on housing and homelessness prevention by the National Practitioner Support Service in July.

Oxford City Council’s executive board member for housing, Councillor Mike Rowley, said: “Housing and homelessness is a long-term problem for the UK, and particularly acute in places like Oxford. This is a top priority for the City Council.

“We are committing to do more on street homelessness – bringing empty buildings into use to provide shelter.

“Our housing challenges won’t be solved by the city council and public agencies alone. Everyone has a part to play - Oxford’s businesses, developers, private landlords, voluntary and community groups, universities, students and Oxford’s residents.”