THE future of a historic Abingdon building remains uncertain after no community groups bid to buy it.

Old Abbey House went on the market in June, but because it is listed as an asset of community value, community groups were given six weeks to put forward a proposal for its use.

But, following a six-week moratorium on the sale, Vale of White Horse District Council has confirmed no community groups made an offer for the 200-year-old building.

It will now be sold on the open market, but it is hoped that, rather than go for housing, it will be kept as something the community could benefit from.

Town council leader Sandy Lovatt said he hoped Old Abbey House would still be useful to the community. He added: “The town council doesn’t have the money for this sort of thing.

“We have been watching it very closely. We don’t want it being given away for housing, we want something useful to come out of it that will contribute to the town centre.’’ Old Abbey House was once connected with Abingdon’s medieval abbey and home to several important merchants, although it is believed the current structure dates from the 1780s. The house was bought by Abingdon Town Council in 1923 and council staff worked there until April 2014.

Friends of Abingdon managed to get it registered as an asset of community value under the 2011 Localism Act, meaning anyone who wishes to sell it must give interest groups the first chance to come forward as bidders.

The group’s chairman, Bryan Brown, said it was unfortunate no community group had come forward to bid for the building.

He added: “We tried to encourage groups, but it’s quite a big task. It’s a large building, it’s quite a significant undertaking so it is quite a challenge for a probably not very strongly funded community group to take up as a project.”

The Vale will be selling the Old Abbey House for between £600,000 and £1million.

Vale leader Matthew Barber said that although the building would be put on the market, it did not stop interested community groups bidding as part of that process.

He added: “We are going to see what expressions of interest we get. We have an obligation to the best value, but how you judge best value depends on what the options are.

“It is a case of seeing what the market brings.”