We have a rolling four-year target of providing 1,600 affordable homes.
Our housing company OX Place builds or manages the delivery of most new council homes.
We use specific funding like retained Right to Buy receipts to buy good value properties on the open market. We then let these as council homes to people on our housing register.
Our affordable housing programme also includes partnership work with housing associations, like Peabody’s redevelopment of Blackbird Leys
What we mean by affordable
People often ask us what we mean when we talk about affordable housing.
The government definition of ‘affordable’ is up to 80% of private rent. In September 2024, the average private rent in Oxford was £1,725 a month.
In a city where private renting is so expensive, 80% is still too much for a lot of people – and it’s not what we mean by affordable.
Social rent
Where possible, we provide council homes let at social rent. This is the rent paid by nearly all our tenants and some housing association tenants.
Social rent is calculated using a government formula which takes account of the size and value of a home and average regional income.
In Oxford, this typically means around 40% of the rent a private landlord would charge for the same home.
‘Affordable’ (or intermediate) rent
This is the official definition of up to 80% of market rents. However, our tenancy strategy bases intermediate rent on local housing allowance levels.
This means intermediate rent in Oxford is 60-65% of the rent a private tenant would pay.
We have a small number of council homes let at intermediate rent.
Home ownership
“Can’t afford a home? Have you tried finding richer parents?”
In 2021, advocacy group Canada Housing Crisis caught the public eye by posing these questions on a billboard in downtown Toronto. Intended to draw attention to a growing affordability crisis, they wouldn’t be out of place in Oxford.
In August 2024, the average house price in Oxford was £489,000 - more than 12 times average household earnings.
This puts home ownership out of reach for a lot of people – especially first-time buyers – without financial help from their families.
The First Homes scheme provides homes for sale to eligible first-time buyers with a 30% discount. However, a price cap of £250,000 means very few First Homes can be provided in Oxford.
Shared ownership
Shared ownership is a more flexible way of helping people onto the property ladder in Oxford.
Sometimes called ‘part rent, part buy’, shared ownership allows people to buy a share of their home – between 10% and 75% initially – while paying rent on the rest.
OX Place provides shared ownership homes, as do some housing associations.
Shared ownership makes home ownership a reality for people like key workers, first-time buyers and under-40s who would otherwise be priced out of Oxford.
For example, a 25% share at The Curve in Between Towns Road ranged from £65,000 for a one-bed flat to £132,500 for a three-bed house.
Source: OX Place 2023 Annual Report
