PLANS have been submitted for an outline scheme of 30 homes on the site of a Bradford Council office building which is scheduled to be demolished next year.

Flockton House, Flockton Road, in Bowling, will close and staff based there are to move into the city centre. Demolition of the former school is scheduled to begin in January, and the Council hopes to sell the site, with the outline planning permission in place.

In a design and access statement submitted along with the planning application, it states: "As the property has been converted from a school to offices the layouts do no meet modern day standards for offices.

"The cost of conversion to upgrade would be more than the value at the end. In any case, the demand for secondary out of town office space has declined with ample supply and very little demand.

"Conversion to residential apartments is uneconomic as the values of residential property in this location is low and demand for apartments is affected by the high vacancy rate in the town centre. Also, there is a reluctance of funders to back any but the most high demand areas and reluctance of mortgage companies to offer good rates to potential purchasers due to perceived risk.

"It is therefore considered that the building has reached the end of its economic life."

What is now Flockton House was built in the early 20th century as a girl's school, known as Bolling High School for Girls.

It is not in a conservation area, but is close to Bolling Hall, a Grade I listed building. As such special consideration will need to be given to the homes that immediately face the boundary with the hall.

The outline plans are for a mix of two and three bedroom semi-detached homes to meet the need in the area.

A heritage appraisal, submitted as part of the application, goes on to state that Flockton House is a mix of one, two and three-storeys, although the height of the building is emphasised with a pitched roof set behind a parapet. In addition the building is "very imposing on the site" as it is constructed almost to the site perimeter.

The side gables of semi-detached dwellings are far less imposing than the existing building and semis are in-keeping with the surrounding area, it adds.

The Council had previously confirmed that staff at Flockton House would be relocated to Mercury House in the city centre which will make the children's services department more accessible to the public.

The move is part of the authority's ten-year property programme whereby it is pulling out of many of the buildings it leases, and spending money on bringing the buildings it owns up to a better standard.

A decision is expected in January.