Derelict buildings in Oxford to be turned into nearly 100 affordable homes
Oxford is set to get nearly 100 more affordable homes after the city council agreed to take on several derelict buildings and turn them into housing
Oxford is set to get nearly 100 more affordable homes after the city council agreed to take on several derelict buildings and turn them into housing.
Four disused sites, including garages in Barton, empty offices in Cowley and Cutteslowe and the former enterprise centre at St Clements, will be converted into homes.
The city council has continued to stress that it is struggling to meet demand for housing in the city, particularly for affordable housing and temporary accommodation.
The move was approved by Oxford City Council’s cabinet at their meeting on Wednesday, September 17.
The garages at Underhill Circus in Barton will be turned into up to nine affordable homes.
Officers said they hoped to get planning permission for the homes next summer and for them to be built by 2027.
The empty office block at Knights Court, on Between Towns Road in Cowley, would be turned into up to 34 homes, with some of these homes being used as temporary accommodation.
Elsfield Hall by the A40 in Cutteslowe will be demolished and replaced by a new building, which aims to provide at least 30 homes.
The former Enterprise Centre at Cave Street in St Clements, which was previously demolished, will be turned into up to 19 homes.
There were plans to replace the site with a 2-3 storey office building, but the funding opportunity was missed in 2023.
The reports show that most of the homes provided will be one-bedroom homes, though some two and three bed-homes will also be provided within these developments.
Affordable housing is classed as up to 80 per cent of what a private landlord would charge for the same room or property.
The city council wants to deliver 1,600 affordable tenure homes by March 2029, with at least 850 being charged at ‘social rent’, which is typically 40 per cent of the market rate for rent.
Councillor Nigel Chapman, cabinet member for citizen focused services and council companies, said officers work hard to “scour the city” for possible housing sites, and that the approval of these “substantial contribution” to meeting the council’s affordable housing target.
He added: “I suspect there are very few councils in the county, when you look at the housing record at the moment, who set themselves a target and actually look on track to deliver it, and I think we should take some pleasure in that.”
Around £26.5 million will be used from the council’s Housing Revenue Account, including £11.7 million for Elsfield Hall, £8.9 million for Knights Court and £5.9 million for Cave Street.
The city council owns the land at Underhill Circus, Cave Street and Elsfield Hall, while West Oxfordshire District Council owns Knights Court.
The cabinet also agreed a new temporary accommodation policy in the same meeting, after the demand for temporary accommodation doubled in the last few years.
There were 298 households requiring temporary accommodation in May, up from 116 in March 2023.