Oxford City Council has approved the development of 78 new homes as part of their affordable housing target.
The developments will be spread across Cowley, East Oxford, and Wood Farm, with the construction managed by OX Place, Oxford City Council’s housing development company. The aim of the developments, according to the council, is to “increase the supply of genuinely affordable housing across the city”.
The plans include 28 new flats in Kersington Crescent, 47 flats on 474 Cowley Road, and two houses on the Wood Farm estate. The houses and flats will either be for affordable rent or social rent, and many will act as temporary accommodation for single homeless adults.
This is the council’s latest project under a rolling affordable housing target. Within this period, the council aims to provide 1,600 affordable homes.
These newest developments come at a time when demand for affordable housing in Oxford is significantly higher than supply. According to the City Council’s latest data, over 4,000 applicants are on the social housing register. Planning restrictions and flood risks in and around the city make it difficult for new housing to be easily and cheaply built.
Oxford houses are also expensive in comparison with average wages in Oxford. Data published in a 2026 Centre for Cities report shows Oxford as the least affordable city in the UK for housing, with average house prices of £549,600, compared to average annual wages of £44,000. The report notes that in cities like Oxford “high house prices are not matched by high levels of housing supply, with the planning system acting as a key constraint on building both upwards and outwards”.
In an online statement, Linda Smith, Councillor and Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, praised the developments as “opportunities to provide homes for people who need them at a time when demand has never been so high”.
“There is a huge need for affordable housing in Oxford, and we know we cannot solve that overnight. But brick by brick, site by site, we are delivering the homes Oxford needs.”
Oxford City Council’s housing policy has its critics. Layla Moran, MP for West Oxford and Abingdon, told Cherwell: “Oxford City Council is good at making a very large amount of noise every time it delivers a very small number of houses.
“The City Council has consistently failed to deliver anywhere near the number of homes needed and has repeatedly prioritised commercial development over housing when large sites have become available.”
Moran also claimed that, in contrast, neighbouring Liberal Democrat-led councils have consistently delivered on affordable housing.
