Work commenced on 10 new council homes in Littlemore
Oxford City Council have announced that construction has begun on 10 low-carbon council homes on a former depot site.
The battle to provide more affordable homes in the UK is ongoing. In addition to the government cracking down on tax rates for empty properties and second homes, Oxford City Council have also just announced that work has started on a set of new council homes.
Comprised of six semi-detached two-bedroom houses and four semi-detached three-bedroom houses, the new houses, which are being funded by Homes England, are expected to take around a year to complete.
When they are eventually finished, five homes will be let as council homes to people on the housing register and the remaining five will be sold for shared ownership by the council’s housing company OX Place.
By letting the new establishments as council homes, tenants will be able to pay around 40% of the rent a private landlord would charge for the same type of property.
The development will be known as ‘Youngs Way’ as Martin Young – vicar of the nearby church of St Mary and St Nicholas from 1951 to 1964 – is buried in the churchyard and his name was proposed by Littlemore Parish Council.
As well as helping to provide much-needed affordable housing, the properties are also set to reduce carbon emissions. According to recent figures, residential buildings are the biggest contributor to Oxford’s carbon footprint and account for 29% of the city’s emissions, which is why the new properties will be electrically heated – primarily by air source heat pumps.
Likewise, nine parking spaces with EV charging are set to built alongside the new homes and these will include three blue badge spaces and one car club space.
Overall, the development is expected to achieve an average 87% beyond government carbon reduction targets – exceeding the Council’s planning requirement of 70% beyond 2013 building regulations.
Commenting on the news Cllr Linda Smith, cabinet member for housing, said: ‘It’s great to see construction has started on 10 new council homes in Lanham Way.
‘Youngs Way will provide genuinely affordable homes for families on our waiting list and help people who would be priced out of Oxford onto the housing ladder.
‘The development will also be highly energy efficient, helping us meet our carbon reduction targets and providing comfortable, cheaper-to-run homes for the people who will live in them.’
Images: Jessop and Cook Architects and Becca Tapert