'Nowhere near' enough affordable homes being built

It comes as the authority announces it is spending £60m over the next eight years on building up to 1,000 homes for the thousands of people on the housing waiting list.

Oxford City Council estimates that it needs to build around 2,000 affordable homes ever year to meet demand. But leader Bob Price last night admitted: “We are nowhere near building 2,000 new affordable homes a year, I’m afraid.

“In the most recent analysis we are the most expensive city in the country both to buy a house and to rent. We have got very little land which the council owns that we can build on, which is why Grenoble Road is so important.

“How many homes we have at the end of the eight-year period depends what happens with the Oxpens development because we are hoping there will be some element of affordable housing.

“The minimum will be 500 additional homes and the top end will be 1,000. The money will be mostly spent on affordable homes in Barton West.”

Several sites have already been earmarked as part of the city council’s affordable housing programme and the first phase of 112 homes will be completed by the end of March 2015.

Another 354 will be provided as part of the Barton West development, when the city council agrees to go ahead with purchasing them.

Mr Price said it was the first time the city council was able to spend this amount of money on housing, made possible because of changes which mean councils can now keep their rental income and use it to finance housing stock.

Before this change in 2012, councils which had a notional surplus made an annual payment to Government. The payments were redistributed to local authorities which had a notional deficit.

Oxford has long had a housing problem and more than 4,500 people are now languishing on the city council’s housing waiting list.

But the city is prevented from expanding much further by a tightly-drawn administrative boundary and by the green belt.

Only two major development sites remain within the city: Barton West and the Northern Gateway, which has been earmarked mainly for business use.

Roger Harding, head of policy, research and public affairs at housing charity Shelter, said: “After decades of under-investment in building the affordable homes that are desperately needed, especially in places like Oxford, we have been left with a serious housing shortage.

“As a result many families have been left with no choice other than to bring up their children in an environment of short-term lets, and increasingly expensive or unsuitable homes. Building genuinely affordable housing is one of the best ways to ensure local families can find the stable home they need to get on in life.”

The first scheme is going to be the demolition and rebuilding of Bradlands in Old Marston, where 49 new flats will replace the 30 which were built in the 1960s.

Work at Bradlands will start in October and the city council is also hoping to build more than 50 houses in Littlemore.

Malcolm Everton, 65, has been moved out of Bradlands temporarily while rebuilding takes place.

He said: ”I think it is good they are making the investment. Housing in Oxford is not very affordable in comparison even to London.”

The purchase of the affordable homes in Barton was discussed by the city council’s executive board on Wednesday. A report to the board says: “The council’s policy is to increase the stock of affordable homes as far as possible.

“It has been estimated that circa 2,000 new affordable homes are needed every year in Oxford.”

Funding for the scheme comes from annual surpluses in the council’s housing revenue account.

The authority also wants to build 2,000 homes on land which it owns south of Grenoble Road, but the site is outside its boundaries and in the South Oxfordshire district.

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) is against the proposal.

Ann Ducker, the Conservative leader of SODC, said: “It is in the green belt and we have to evaluate all the options before we even think of building on the green belt.

“At the moment we are doing a housing assessment and we are waiting for the outcome of that. Then, as the five district councils, we will sit down and look at those figures.

“I keep hearing that Oxford needs houses but I have not seen evidence of this.”

PLANS IN PLACE ACROSS CITY TO HELP MEET PEOPLE'S NEEDS

THE city council currently has around 7,800 social houses.

In addition there are another 3,800 which are provided by registered social landlords.

Only 31 affordable homes are currently vacant but are due to be allocated shortly.

The council will build 112 homes by 2015, including 49 new flats at Bradlands in Old Marston built by October.

A planning application has been submitted to demolish Alice Smith House in Littlemore and replace it with 11 affordable homes.

Another 48 homes are planned for the East Minchery allotments in Grenoble Road, and there will be the 354 homes in Barton West.

Other social landlords are also building homes in Oxford, such as the Haboakus homes in Northway and Cowley.

CHRIS'S STORY OF HOMELESSNESS

Chris Bussell, 55, left, spent a year on the housing waiting list in Oxford.

He now lives in city council accommodation in Ferry Hinksey Road.

He said: “It can be very frustrating waiting for a house, if you are constantly in short-term rented accommodation.

“When you finally get good accommodation all your personal issues become a lot more manageable and it gives you the chance to make headway.

“You need affordable housing for people like nurses, bus drivers and social service staff. If you don’t, you start to price everybody out of the market.

“I think 2,000 homes a year is probably nowhere near what they need to build.”

Mr Bussell moved to Oxford about 10 years ago to study social work at Ruskin College.

When his mother died he suffered depression and, after leaving college, found himself homeless.

He initially slept in his car but, when his vehicle was stolen, began sleeping rough before getting into rented accommodation.