Oxford City Council announced that 4,145 new homes have been completed since the start of the current local plan period in 2016/17, surpassing its own target of 4,076 new homes to date.
Despite this, Oxfordshire as a whole is on track to miss the government’s housebuilding targets for the next five years by 1,000 homes.
It is estimated 4,910 houses will be built each year until 2029 across Oxfordshire, which is below the 5,151 local target set by the government, according to analysis by urban policy think-tank Centre for Cities
The city council has previously acknowledged it will need to build houses within neighbouring rural districts to meet its own housing needs.
The Labour government has set out plans to build 1.5 million homes and make 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects as part of its national policy.
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner unveiled plans this month to “overhaul the broken planning system”.
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Green councillor Fiona Mawson, who represents Kidlington East on Cherwell District Council, said that the “vital need for more affordable housing” must be “balanced against the impact on wildlife and biodiversity”.
(Image: Contributed) She said: “Oxfordshire is a largely rural county and home to a huge range of animals and insects that not only support the local landscape, but their presence also helps with our mental health and wellbeing.
“We can’t simply ignore all that as some of Angela Rayner’s recent rather tone-deaf comments have suggested.
“Those creatures also need a place to live and if we increase the destruction of habitats and wildlife corridors, we also risk increasing the impact of climate change that the resultant biodiversity loss will lead to.
“There needs to be a balance between the needs of humans and the other creatures we share this planet with.
“That can’t be simply dispensed with for the sake of political expediency.”
“Attempting to offset the impact of environmental destruction while ripping apart current protections to build one million homes will be a disaster for wildlife and habitat protection.
“Focus should be on brownfield sites and the large banks of land which developers already hold.
“In Oxford we are losing species rich green spaces and parts of nature reserves.
“The Oxford Green Belt has already been so greatly diminished through successive local Plans and remaining Green Belt needs to be retained.
“The growth planned for the city is considered excessive with a dire lack of infrastructure necessary to support it.
“The city and district council need to deliver what is already promised and not least resolve the urgent water and sewage issues.”
“The lack of strategic planning in Oxfordshire has contributed to Oxford City Council unreasonably looking to the surrounding districts to meet its exaggerated future housing needs, rather than looking critically at making more sites available in the city, including some of those allocated for employment.
“The district councils are all seeing increases in house building, but there is widespread concern about the lack of infrastructure such as transport, water and sewage and other facilities such as GP surgeries”.
He added that the government’s plans for 1.5 million homes had “no chance of being met” unless they facilitate the construction of more social housing.
Councillor Louise Upton, city council cabinet member for planning, said: “While Oxford City Council welcomes the new housing targets as our housing needs are so high, these homes must be of good quality.
“Our draft local plan lays out the expectation that new homes and businesses in Oxford should be zero carbon.
“As mandated by national policy, larger new developments will also need to deliver a 10 per cent increase in biodiversity – through what is called ‘biodiversity net gain’.
“That means planting more trees, hedges and other greenery to meet new standards.
“We are also proposing an urban greening policy to require more street tree planting in new development for the benefit of our residents.
“These measures will improve habitats for wildlife, and ensure that the quality of the natural environment is enhanced alongside providing desperately needed homes.”
A spokesperson added: “We are in discussions with the Environment Agency and Thames Water to expedite plans for provision of the services that are needed.”
Oxford City Council has said it is building on brownfield sites, particularly those near the city boundary on Grenoble Road, Bayswater Brook and Northfield, and that it has already built brownfield developments in Rose Hill, Barton, Marston, Headington, Cowley, Wood Farm and the city centre, and is close to completing a new development in Littlemore.
A West Oxfordshire District Council spokesperson said: “Building more affordable homes and responding to the climate and biodiversity emergencies are key priorities for this council.
“Through the new local plan we are creating we will be looking to maximise building more affordable homes so that we have the right homes, in the right places.
“We will also be doing more to both protect and enhance our environment.”
The spokesperson added that the council will wait and see what the government’s final housing targets are.
South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council gave a joint statement, which said: “It is good news that Oxford’s latest authority’s monitoring report shows that more homes are being delivered within Oxford than originally expected.
“In our joint local plan, which we submitted to the Secretary of State for examination this week, we are meeting the government’s existing policy figure as well as honouring the around 7,000 homes for Oxford’s unmet need that we had previously agreed.
“Oxford City Council is no longer asking us to take additional unmet need beyond what was previously agreed.”
A spokesperson for Cherwell District Council said the authority would soon launch a consultation on its local plan.
The spokesperson added: “We co-operate with neighbouring authorities on housing requirements and our current adopted plan already includes 4,400 homes to address Oxford’s unmet housing need.
“This commitment is retained in the new Proposed Local Plan. It also includes policies for protecting and enhancing green spaces, landscape designations, net biodiversity gain, and affordable housing.”
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About the author
Esme is a Local Democracy Reporter covering politics, planning and council meetings across the county.
She joined the Oxford Mail in October 2024 after completing a Master’s in Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
Esme achieved a BA in History at Cambridge University before going down the journalism path.
She can be found on X by searching @esme_kenney.