BLOG: “Have you tried finding richer parents?”

In May, an advocacy group called Canada Housing Crisis caught the public eye by posing these questions on a billboard in downtown Toronto. They would resonate in Oxford too, and rightly so.

Oxford is among the least affordable places for housing in the UK.

Home ownership is an impossible dream for many and private rents can cost up to two thirds of take home pay. As a result, many people live in overcrowded conditions or have been priced out of our city altogether.

More than half of the people who work in Oxford face lengthy commutes on overcrowded roads every day. The cost of housing means that nearly a third of Oxford’s children live below the poverty line.

We have plans to deliver nearly 11,000 new homes in Oxford over the next 15 years, including a new generation of council housing.

Limited remaining space means this still won’t be enough to meet our needs. This is why we’re working closely with our neighbouring councils to build thousands more homes as close to the city as possible.

We also need to find a balance between delivering these much needed homes and ensuring that the Oxford of tomorrow has the right jobs, amenities and green spaces for everyone.

We’re starting to think about how to achieve this. We’re in the early stages of identifying priorities for our Local Plan 2040, which will guide our city’s development over the next two decades.

We want your views on what these priorities should be.

We’ve opened the first round of public consultation on what could be included in the Local Plan 2040, which runs until 25 August.

Help shape our city’s future. Find out more and please take part on the Local Plan 2040 webpages.