Hundreds of new homes are going to be built near an Oxfordshire village.

Housebuilder, Crest Nicholson, has bought Wheatley Campus from Oxford Brookes University and plans to build 500 new homes - with 35 per cent of these set to be affordable.

Back in 2018, the university was refused outline planning permission to demolish its Wheatley campus and to replace it with a 500-home housing estate.

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At the time, the council said the site was on Green Belt land and Oxford’s urban sprawl should be prevented.

However, the university appealed the decision and the government overturned the decision on April 23, 2020.

With planning consent already in place for the 53 acre site, Crest Nicholson plans to provide a mixture of two to five bedroom houses, along with some apartments.

In addition to this, the developer plans to build community facilities such as a sports pavilion, bowling green and a cricket pitch.

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Land director at Crest Nicholson South, Nicholas Daruwalla said: “This is a key purchase for Crest Nicholson, given the site’s prime location and scale.

“It is in close proximity to major employment, retail, leisure, and education hubs, making it a highly desirable location.

“These characteristics, coupled with the area comprising high levels of housing demand and low levels of supply, makes this deal an important purchase for the business.

“We are pleased to be working with Oxford Brookes University to bring this development to fruition, and with this deal, we will provide a number of much needed homes, including affordable housing, to help meet local demand.”

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Work is set to begin at the site at the end of 2024 and housing will be completed in Autumn 2025 at the earliest.

The site is close to the villages of Wheatley and Holton, and only a few miles from Oxford city centre.

Jerry Woods, director of estates and campus services at Oxford Brookes University, said: “We’re pleased to have worked with Crest Nicholson and our real estate advisers CBRE on this sale which will facilitate the move of our remaining activity from the Wheatley Campus to new, state-of-the-art facilities at our Headington campus.

“The Wheatley site will provide a high-quality residential environment, offering an assortment of housing types to meet local needs.

“Oxford Brookes has been proud to call the Wheatley Campus home for close to fifty years and the University will continue to engage with local groups and individuals while we remain on the site over the next 18 months.”

It is not yet clear how councillors will react to this news, as in 2020 Lib Dem county councillor for Wheatley Tim Bearder said the new homes would place local schools and medical services at “maximum capacity”.