A DISTRICT councillor has accused Blenheim Estate of wanting to 'monopolise' house-building in West Oxfordshire after it bought its development partner.

The estate has purchased Kidlington-based Pye Homes, which it said 'shared its values' and had an 'unparalleled understanding' of the area.

Pye is currently building 469 homes in Long Hanborough and east of Woodstock with Blenheim.

Some houses will be available at a 40 per cent discount to the market rent, but the estate will own many of these for the 'foreseeable future'.

It is part of Blenheim's commitment to create more than 300 affordable homes in the area, but Merilyn Davies, district councillor for Freeland and Hanborough, claimed residents would lose out.

She said: "Whilst they are right about the need for affordable homes in order for communities to thrive, Blenheim’s cynical approach to housing, undermines their commitment to providing it.

"Stable communities cannot be built if residents are means tested every five years to see if they may remain in their homes.

"Communities cannot thrive when private landlords have a stranglehold over the rental sector and where profit comes before people.

"We need councils to build houses themselves, generating wealth and reinvesting it in our communities.

"Why leave developers to take all the profit when we can make it ourselves?"

The move secures Pye's long term future and comes as the company works with Blenheim to build 169 homes at Hanborough Gate, while work has just started on 300 homes at Park View, east of Woodstock.

Park View will be built according to the Landowner Legacy principles of The Prince's Foundation, which says landowners have a responsibility to build homes their communities ‘actually want’.

As well as building more than 300 affordable homes, Blenheim's 10-year development programme includes tripling the estate's contribution to the local economy and creating a £45m endowment fund to safeguard the UNESCO World Heritage Site's long term future.

Blenheim CEO Dominic Hare called the purchase of Pye a 'great moment' for the district and said it would help achieve these goals.

He said: "We generate £90m of economic value each year, predominantly in the local area, and support over 2,000 local jobs.

"This makes us one of the biggest economic pillars of the area and securing this endowment protects everyone in the area - this is vital for local people's jobs, enjoyment and prosperity.

"Housing is not affordable in this area for most people. We do not claim to be the only solution for this problem but we think we can be a very good and important one.

"We absolutely encourage other solutions and will work actively to help them."