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Spotlight: Is the future bright for Oxford? 2017

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Unaffordable housing and a lack of office space are constraining Oxford’s productivity and economy.

New sites connected to the city, such as Barton Park and Oxford North, will start to unlock growth, but more are required. New infrastructure, in addition to Oxford Parkway station, will provide the connections

■ Of the new homes built in Oxfordshire over the past five years, only 10% were built in Oxford, yet the city accounted for 42% of job growth. Now, 36 new sites have been proposed to meet Oxford’s housing need

■ Better housing opportunities would attract and keep Oxford’s top talent. For 2014/15, Oxford retained 18% of its graduates, outside the top 10 UK university cities. London and Manchester led the way with 77% and 52% of students retained

■ A high level of house-building in the county towns has done little to reduce the pressure on Oxford. Congestion on main roads into the city has increased by 22% over the past five years, and at 16.7 Oxford has the highest average house price to income ratio in the country

■ Momentum is building towards the planning and funding of new transport infrastructure. This includes relief for the A34 and new East-West rail and road links

■ More venture capital investment into Oxford is supporting start-ups and will create new demand for office space in the future. Major new developments in the city centre will act as a catalyst to attract more office occupiers

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