Oxford plan rejected over housing numbers

Oxford City Council said it was "alarmed and extremely disappointed" by the planning inspectors' findings

A plan to build 1,322 homes for Oxford ever year has been rejected for having too many houses in it.

The city council said it was "alarmed and extremely disappointed" by the recommendation from the Planning Inspectorate to withdraw its draft Local Plan.

The authority had argued that the city's "urgent need for homes" and "thriving life science and technology sectors" meant that housing targets should be higher for Oxford.

But the government's planning inspectorate found that the "standard method" for working out housing need should be used instead - meaning the council should plan for 762 new homes a year up to 2040.

The majority of the homes Oxford City Council was planning for would have to be built outside the city's boundaries, due to a lack of space.

The authority was told by the inspectors that it also had not met its "duty to co-operate" with neighbouring councils, who would have to make room for thousands of homes for Oxford.

'No clear justification'

In a letter on its findings to the city council, the planning inspectors said that it did not find that the authority had engaged "constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis" on housing need with other local authorities.

On housing numbers, the letter said: "While Oxford City has a buoyant economy, the Standard Method would provide additional housing, which would support jobs growth.

"There is no clear justification in this case for departing from the standard method, exceptional circumstances do not exist."

The council said it "strongly disputes the findings" and that the new government were bringing in higher housing targets.

Labour leader of the council Susan Brown said: "The planning inspectors have failed to grasp the seriousness of Oxford’s housing crisis and the number of new homes we need to tackle this crisis – and don’t appear to have heeded the clear message from government which requires all councils to up their housing delivery ambitions."

The government has said it wants to build 1.5m homes over the next five years.