Oxford is failing to provide enough affordable housing, a study by the charity Shelter revealed this week.
The housing charity claims that Oxford city council is only meeting 12% of the demand for affordable new housing.
Shelter’s Housing League Table was published this week. It shows that Oxford is ranked 226 out of 323 English local authorities, and has a shortfall of 1,547 new homes per year.
Shelter told Cherwell that the effects of the student population on the lack of affordable housing in Oxford is something which they would like to know more about. They feel that this would be an issue for the council to investigate, as Shelter does not hold data on privately rented housing.
Evidence from studies in other cities shows that short-term rental contracts, such as those usually leased by students, can inflate market rent prices.
There are currently over 30,000 students from both Oxford and Brookes universities living in private accommodation in Oxford.
Finding reasonably priced accommodation is also an issue for students who live out. The average rent for students in Cowley is £70 per week, close to the national average, but accommodation in Jericho can cost as much as £110 per week.
St. Anne’s undergraduate Vanessa Carr said, “looking for a property close to your college is unnecessarily stressful. The deposits are large and some estate agents’ queuing processes are unfair.”
This January some students camped outside North Oxford Property Services for two nights in snow and rain because of worries over the increasing demand for housing in the area.
CORRECTION:It was previously stated in this article that Shelter would urge the council to investigate the impact of the transient student pupulation on availability of affordable housing for locals. This is in fact untrue, as Shelter has no evidence of any effect, and was thus unable to comment on the matter. Cherwell would like to apologise to Shelter and to its readers for any confusion this may have caused.
