Malcolm X, the Dalai Lama, Albert Einstein and even the king of pop Michael Jackson have all made high-profile speeches at the Oxford Union.
Earlier this month, the historic debating chamber in the city hosted the Strutt & Parker housing debate for the first time, in order to address the huge housing supply crisis faced by Oxford and Oxforshire.
The panel, which included politicians, an academic, and representatives from the private sector, chaired by Strutt & Parker senior partner Andy Martin (see opposite), was asked how Oxfordshire plans to meet its housing needs.
Obviously there is no silver bullet. But suggestions included a mix of higher densities, improved planning procedures, better infrastructure and a change of policy on green belt land.
A severe shortage of sites for residential development, critical infrastructure issues and an unhelpful planning regime were all cited as major issues that needed to be addressed.
According to Strutt & Parker, only 70 new homes were built in Oxford city centre in 2013-14, just six of which were affordable. The 2014 Oxfordshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment set a projected need across the county’s five local authorities of around 5,000 new homes per annum from 2011-2031. The present rate of delivery falls far below this figure, at 1,730 new homes in 2013-14.
The firm’s senior analyst, Vanessa Hale, said according to S&P research, home ownership nationwide had dropped from 70% to 64% between 2001 and 2011 and over the same period home ownership had dropped in Oxford by 5% – despite the vast majority (90%) of residents still wanting to be homeowners. Unaffordability and lack of stock are two key reasons for the change in figures. Hale believed that the private rented sector had been a “creeping trend” providing an “invisible, structural change to the way people live from homeowners to renters”. She said there had been an 89% increase to 2011 in PRS development, adding: “Local authorities, politicians and developers all need to be more open to alternative housing solutions. Oxford’s lack of housing supply could hinder keeping talent here.”
Home Builders Federation planning director, Andrew Whitaker, was frustrated at the lack of decent strategic sites for developers to build on. He said: “One of the things we are working on is trying to get local authorities to have a realistic discussion with developers about releasing more sites and what those sites are going to deliver each year.
“At the moment we are seeing a lot of reluctant local authorities. Those local authorities that have been dragged kicking and screaming to the housing provision levels that they know they need to provide. And I can name all of the local authorities in Oxfordshire for this – they need to release enough sites to ensure the market can deliver.”
To a round of applause, Whitaker declared: “I am fed up with talking about the problems, I know what they are. Let’s talk about solutions and be realistic and make sure Oxfordshire politicians face up to those solutions and do what is needed to be done, which is find sites for housing and grant permissions.”
Oxford’s global reputation for being at the forefront of research has helped make it the least affordable city in the UK in terms of housing, with residential property values in Oxford surging by £41,700 in the 12 months to May 2015 – nearly four times higher than gains in the wider UK and above the £38,900 house price rise in London, leading to the city facing a housing catastrophe.
Professor William James, Oxford University’s pro-vice-chancellor (planning and resources), said this extreme lack of affordable and suitable housing was heavily affecting the university’s staff and students. He said the university is committed to help by building a significant amount of homes for its students on its own land, and will be bringing plans forward in the very near future, including up to 1,000 much-needed homes for its staff.
The university and other city colleges will consider public/private sector partnerships to do this, said James. “The path to my door is lined with people wanting to look for opportunities to invest in student housing and there is a great deal of interest from developers as well. A planning challenge faces us though for staff housing.”
This is due to the city’s policy of having to build one social housing unit for every private unit developed. “This makes viability fall away for projects like these,” added James.
Andrew Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East, believed further urban extensions to Oxford – such as those at Barton Park and the northern gateway – were urgently needed to help with viability and said an urgent review was needed to make the green belt smaller as it is at present “strangling” the city.
Of the 163,100 acres of Oxford’s green belt land, around 75% is under agricultural use and more than a fifth is at significant risk of flooding. The most recent green belt review, conducted by environmental consultant LUC and published last October, is the first comprehensive review backed by all the local authorities.
While some district councils, notably South Oxfordshire, have said that the green belt release will not take place to accommodate their own growth, others, such as Vale of White Horse are planning for green belt release. Pressure is now mounting to release sites close to Oxford to help meet the city’s growth challenge.
The panel
Andrew Whitaker, planning director of the Home Builders Federation
Ian Hudspeth, leader of Oxfordshire County Council
Bev Hindle, deputy director of strategy and infrastructure at Oxfordshire County Council
Andrew Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East
Professor William James, pro-vice-chancellor (planning and resources) at Oxford University
Vanessa Hale, senior analyst (research) Strutt & Parker
Chaired by Strutt & Parker senior partner, Andy Martin (below)
