THE PALATIAL former headquarters of the Church of England in Oxfordshire is set to become a block of flats.

Oxford construction firm Basil Wyatt & Sons has applied for planning permission to turn the £2m former Stately Home into 15 apartments.

The 8,054sq ft estate could have become an office block, a hotel or a restaurant, subject to planning permission, but now its fate looks sealed.

The Oxford Diocese which formerly occupied the building put it on the market in October after deciding to move to a bigger home in Bannister House at Langford Locks business park, Kidlington.

The church's estate agents Carter Jonas received 12 offers and settled on one in January this year.

Agent Jon Silversides said this week that the sale is now in the last stages and the planning application had gone in ahead of completion.

He would not reveal the name of the assumed new owners.

The 8,054sq ft estate would have been worth in the region of £2m as an office block, if that was what it was bought as, but the actual sale price has not been revealed.

The building has a mixture of cellular and open-plan accommodation, toilets, a kitchen and a lift.

Members of public can see the planning application online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P16/V2142/PDO.

Vale of White Horse District Council has said it will make a final decision on the bid by October 17.