YOUR editorial Ingenious idea, but city housing crisis requires council action (April 8), suggests Oxford City Council must do more to solve Oxford’s housing crisis.

There is no greater priority for the council, and as you have previously reported, we have allocated funds for nearly 1,000 new council homes (of a decent size, not “pods”), we are seeing families move into new council homes at Littlemore and Headington, and we are partners in the development of around 800 homes at Barton, with 40 per cent being at proper, social rents, so that they are genuinely affordable.

This is all happening at a time when funding for new affordable housing has been slashed by central government.

As you correctly say, there is a lack of land, and while the council will do what it can on land it owns (as was the case at Barton), most land in the city is owned privately.

We desperately need more land to come forward for development, but inevitably to meet Oxford’s housing need, that will include land which is located immediately outside the city’s boundary – there is simply not enough land within the city (let alone land owned by the council) to meet Oxford’s housing need.

This is where cooperation from neighbouring councils, particularly South Oxfordshire District Council, is needed, and has, in recent times, been lacking.

Without this cooperation, we will see Oxford become increasingly unaffordable to local people on lower and middle incomes, and the council will be powerless to reverse the trend.

Cllr ED TURNER
Deputy Leader Oxford City Council
Nowell Road, Oxford