OXFORD seems to have become a victim of its own success when it comes to the cost of keeping a roof over our heads, with property prices doubling in just over a decade.

Students and workers drawn to a vibrant city have further pushed up the price of property.

Take the overseas student whose parents paid his £1,500-a-month rent for a one-bed flat in North Oxford for a full year in advance.

No wonder Labour Oxford City Council deputy leader Ed Turner fears the city is “becoming a ghetto for the rich”.

The problem presents many issues. As Mr Turner points out, one is whether Oxford should expand beyond its current boundary.

Now a review of the county’s Green Belt is set to take place in the New Year to see if protected land should be built on.

Certainly the city council is keen to build affordable homes itself and work with other providers, such as housing associations, but finding the land is key and suitable sites within the city are few and far between.

Demand is so high that even extra homes will do little to bring down prices.

What they can do, though, is provide affordable housing at genuinely affordable levels. But without an adequate supply of land to build on, that will only take place in piecemeal fashion.