Barnet and Southgate College have been told that no further action can be taken during the next six months to sell off the vacant Tudor Hall on its High Barnet campus opposite the parish church.

The historic former schoolhouse has been listed as an asset of community value.

A request to halt the sale of the building – which is on the market at a guide price of around £1 million – was made by Barnet Museum and Local History Society.

Barnet Council has informed the museum’s trustees that the full six-month moratorium on the sale of the building has been triggered.

Under this protection the museum and local history groups will have six months to see if they can mount a bid to purchase the hall for possible conversion into a national centre to explain and commemorate the Wars of the Roses and the role of the 1471 Battle of Barnet.

John Hall, chair of the museum’s trustees, was delighted that the council had triggered the six-month moratorium.

He said that securing this protection was an illustration of the strength of the community support for steps to safeguard the Tudor Hall from commercial use and to see whether there was a chance of converting it into a centre to commemorate the Wars of the Roses.

In a letter to the college, Barnet Council’s community rights department says it can continue to market the Tudor Hall but cannot exchange contracts or enter a binding contract to exchange contracts, except to a community interest group.

To the surprise and disappointment of many local organisations, the college announced in December last year that it had decided to sell this much-loved building, originally the schoolhouse for the free grammar school granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1573.

According to sales agents Colliers, which has been advertising the Tudor Hall at an asking price of around £1 million, the property is now under offer.

Soon after the sale was announced, Colliers said the preferred bidder was “a private education provider”, which is thought to have made an offer close to the full price.

The council’s letter to the college explains that it is under no obligation to sell Tudor Hall to the museum and local history society in response to any bid presented.

The six-month moratorium is intended to give local historians time to put together a bid.

“If the local society is not successful, the asset may be sold on the open market after this time.

“After the expiry of the full moratorium period, the college can dispose of Tudor Hall to whoever they choose at whatever price and on whatever terms the college choose within the protected period.”