New figures reveal staggering £662,000 between cheapest and most expensive homes in Oxford

St Margaret's was the most expensive area of Oxford to buy a house last year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Of the 24 council wards in the city, St Margaret's saw the highest median house price in 2021, of £939,900.

This was followed by North (£887,500) and Summertown (£805,000).

In contrast, the cheapest parts of Oxford to purchase property were Northfield Brook, which had a median house price of £277,000, Blackbird Leys (£296,500) and Cowley Marsh (£344,000).

The median – the middle number in a series – is used to ensure the figures are not skewed by extreme highs or lows.

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Cllr Louise Upton, Oxford City Council's cabinet member for Health and Transport, who represents upmarket Walton Manor, said: “That’s amazing that you can just go three miles down the road and house prices triple or quadruple.

She added: “There’s not a lot the city council can do about house prices. I’m more concerned about health inequalities. If you are a man living in Blackbird Leys you will die on average 10 to 15 years younger than a man in North Oxford. That’s more what I worry about.

“And all this just underlines how unaffordable housing is in Oxford. If you look at the multiplier of average earnings to house prices it’s the most expensive place in the country. Prices may be cheaper than London but you do not get the London weighting in earnings here.”

Zoopla said the data often reflects the housing stock available in an area.

Cllr Tom Landell Mills, who represents Summertown, said: "Oxford house prices are too high and even the areas with the lowest prices are out of reach for most people. 

"North Oxford is virtual a no-go area for first-time buyers - with sky high prices and an ageing demographic.

"The answer in part is for the Government to encourage the private sector to build more houses for the elderly to down size to and release family homes to the next generation." 

The Liberal Democrat councillor added: "Also, more broadly there is a strong case to curtail right to buy, allow local authorities to retain receipts from council house sales and allow for a substantial council house building programme - including where necessary powers to compulsorily purchase land identified for housing that is now being brought forward."

He said more part rent part buy and shared ownership should also be promoted.

Meanwhile Northfield Brook councillor Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini said: “This huge discrepancy in house prices is reflective of the huge gap between the wealth of a family living in North Oxford compared to one living in Blackbird Leys.

"As we saw during the pandemic this wealth cushions families against the hardships of life whether that be by allowing them to work from home or bear the current cost of living crisis.

"This horrendous inequality has a devastating intergenerational impact on the health and wellbeing of men, women and children with up to 29 per cent of children in Blackbird Leys living in poverty most of whom are from working families.

"It affects all aspects of children’s’ lives and as the Child Poverty Review group recommended, needs tackling by all institutions in the city including the University by improved wages and working conditions, doing their part during housing developments in providing social housing and putting tackling poverty and inequalities at the heart of all policies.”

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The figures also showed that the number of homes sold in Oxford rose from 1,054 in 2020 to 1,474 last year.

Of sales last year, 8 per cent (116) were in Littlemore – making it the busiest area for buyers.

At the other end of the scale, Holywell saw just one property sold in 2021, earning it the title of quietest area of Oxford's property market.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research said that following a period of significant growth during the pandemic, it expects house prices to experience downward pressure over the next year, as a result of sharp rises in mortgage rates.

Karl Thompson, an economist at the think tank, said the strongest price contractions are expected outside London and the South East - causing even greater price disparities between regions.

The number of residential property sales in England increased by 21 per cent to 821,407 between the end of 2020 and the end of last year.

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