Housing and Innovation

Providing good quality, affordable accommodation is vital if we are to continue to attract the world’s best researchers and students.  Importantly, the new housing we plan to build will also relieve pressure on the supply of local housing and bring benefits to the wider Oxford community. The creation and expansion of our existing innovation districts will mean we can offer enhanced facilities for spin out companies from the University, support our local economy with high-quality jobs, growth and income, and contribute to the national economy.

Latest news

Begbroke Science Park

The University’s science park at Begbroke, five miles from the city centre between Yarnton and Woodstock, has a track record of incubation and growth of successful start-up and spin-out companies. The University and its joint venture partners are now working to build on this, both by expanding the existing Science Park and, in the longer term, by creating a unique new innovation district in the area around it. Find out more about the vision for this new community and the progress that’s been made so far.

Joint venture partnership

Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, with Sir John Kingman, Chairman of Legal & General

Ian Wallman

Through the joint venture, Legal & General (L&G) are providing up to £4 billion of funding to deliver a series of projects with the aim of providing approximately 1,000 subsidised homes for rent by University and college staff, around 1,000 additional units of graduate student accommodation and expansion of our existing innovation facilities. The partnership means that the University can move forward with a cohesive plan to meet housing and research development needs that will also bring benefits to the city.

The projects will be developed initially by Oxford University Development Limited (OUD), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the joint venture company established by the University and L&G Group. OUD will design each project in line with the University’s requirements, consult with the local community and statutory authorities, apply for planning permission and manage the construction tender process. Once planning permission has been granted, the project will be completed by a company wholly-owned by L&G in return for rental income from the site for a defined number of years.