Energy-efficiency, low carbon travel, and access to green spaces: these are the hallmarks of new housing in Oxfordshire as developers create desirable and sustainable homes for the talented people who want to come and work in the county’s thriving innovation ecosystem.
Oxfordshire is already one of the most attractive places to live and work in the UK and can offer both urban and rural lifestyles. Significant new developments, such as Heyford Park, named by the UK Government as one of its designated new towns, aim to combine the best of all worlds in a self-sufficient, sustainable settlement. The 9,000-home community north of Bicester will have schools, shops and sporting facilities and include affordable housing, assisted living and key worker homes. Its growth will be underpinned by upgraded nearby rail links with connected bus and cycle routes. Approximately 60% of the 110 hectare site will be dedicated to open space including public parkland, walking trails, and a lake. Developer Dorchester Living is promising a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain, an area set aside as a retained Local Wildlife Site and the planting of 65,000 trees. Subject to the planning process, Dorchester Living expects construction to start in autumn 2026, with final completion in 2042.
Meanwhile, one thriving green housebuilding business is dedicated to making ‘Better Than Net Zero’ homes. In its 30,000 sq. ft solar-powered factory in Bicester, Greencore makes closed timber-frame panels insulated with natural materials to create houses designed and built to Passivhaus standards for Oxfordshire developments such as The Canopies, at Milton Heights, Launton near Bicester, and Springfield Meadows in the south of the county. All are located near some of the region’s most exciting science and business parks and offer highly-insulated houses with excellent ventilation to ensure comfort and wellbeing as well as low energy bills.
Jon Di-Stefano, CEO of Greencore Homes says: "Everything we do at Greencore is driven by a commitment to build Better Than Net Zero homes. By combining natural materials, precision engineering and renewable energy, we're proving that homes can be truly better for people and planet. Our developments, such as The Canopies, at Milton Heights, show what's possible when sustainability and quality go hand in hand to build thriving, resilient communities for the future."
Greencore recruits and trains its workforces locally, and as demand for green construction skills grows, a new training centre is helping to supply the market. The Green Construction Skills Centre in Abingdon offers a variety of training programmes in low or zero-carbon new build and retrofit construction that have been designed with input from key employers. Built with £2.7 million of funds secured by Enterprise Oxfordshire, the centre has already supported over 500 learners. An extension to the Green Construction Skills Centre is planned, and is an investable project highlighted in Oxon Green Futures (Green Construction Skills Centre - OXON Green Futures).
Within the city of Oxford, which is committed to becoming a net zero city by 2040, plans are underway for a low carbon heat network. The Oxford Energy Network scheme would provide the city centre with heat from air source, water source or data centre source heat pumps. The project has been awarded £21 million from the UK Government's Green Network Fund and the company behind it, 1Energy, says: ‘When completed in spring 2030, the first phase of the network is set to reduce Oxford’s reliance on fossil-fuel gas by 10 per cent and cut carbon emissions by 15,000 tonnes a year.’ 1Energy is due to submit a planning application for the project in the next six months.