Cllr Hollingsworth has said that he doesn’t understand how not building homes will solve the housing crisis in Oxford. Imagine that the housing crisis is like a hole in the ground. If Oxford City Housing Ltd builds homes, this should fill the hole. The housing list should become smaller.
But this doesn’t happen. The housing list has been the same size for at least 20 years. A number of factors help keep the housing list exactly the same size. One problem is that Oxford City council aims to create thousands of new jobs in the city centre (but no homes for families). They hope to attract highly skilled workers who can afford Oxford’s house prices. This puts extra pressure on land and house prices for everyone. Housing eats up a greater proportion of household finances. More people struggle. Even when the council builds social housing, the size of the housing list stays the same.
So. Will building houses on Bertie decrease the size of the housing list? Probably not.
Save Bertie Park Oxford 