The benefits to growing the housing supply in Oxford and in the UK as a whole are manifold:
- When housing supply exceeds demand, the cost of housing would usually be expected to fall. This is backed up by several studies on the topic.
- The same logic applies to rents, which should sink towards the landlord’s maintenance cost.
- Because many landlords have mortgages, the two effects are linked: lower-priced housing permits cheaper renting.
- More affordable private-sector rents reduce the pressure on council housing, as well as the cost to taxpayers supporting tenants who can’t afford high market rents.
- With plentiful affordable housing, living close to work is more likely and commuting is likely to fall, along with traffic congestion and pollution.
- When sparser housing is replaced with denser apartments the result is less emissions per capita. Denser areas usually result in smaller apartments that share walls or floors and ceilings with other apartments, thus requiring less energy – and thus less carbon emissions – to heat.
- Denser housing and so more people living near the city centre means more potential customers for restaurants, cafes, theatres, and other cultural offerings – without the increase in car parks normally required!
- A slight excess of supply eases redevelopment projects for run-down houses, because replacement housing is readily available.
- Because paying for housing forms the bulk of most people’s cost of living, more affordable housing means lower financial stress for everybody.
- Money that was previously being spent on rent can now be saved to provide financial security, or invested in other ways.
- More affordable housing encourages creativity and innovation. People who are more financially secure are more likely take a risk to start a new business or develop a new technology.