Pending26/01928/FUL
16
units
Demolition of existing children's home. Erection of 16 x 1 bed apartments (Use Class C3) and associated landscaping, bin and cycle stores, and ancillary works.
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Oxfordshire · Q3 2026
Oxford Q3 2026: approval rate reaches 90.6% as small schemes dominate
Oxford City approved 29 applications and refused 3 in Q3 2026, while 54 applications proposing 88 homes await a decision.
- Median sale price
- £455,000
- Median price trend
- £455k
- Pending dev applications
- 54
- Pipeline value (GDV)
- £31.7m
+1.1% YoY
88 units
77% approval rate (recent decisions)
Oxford City approved 29 applications in Q3 2026 and refused 3, an approval rate of 90.6%, compared with 75% in Q2 2026. The approvals covered only 13 homes, and the largest added 6 flats. Behind them sit 54 undecided applications proposing 88 homes, with an estimated GDV of £31.7m.
What's driving the Oxford market
Across the whole Oxford City local planning authority, Q3 2026 produced 29 approvals, 3 refusals and 5 withdrawals, an approval rate of 90.6%. In Q2 2026 there were 27 approvals, 9 refusals and 3 withdrawals, an approval rate of 75%. A year earlier, in Q3 2025, the authority approved 40 applications and refused 8, with 4 withdrawn and an approval rate of 83.3%. Over the 12 months to 30 September 2026 the authority approved 108 applications and refused 32, an approval rate of 77%. The latest quarter is therefore stronger than the 12-month average. One quarter is a small sample, though, so it should not be read as a lasting change in approach. The planning data comes from local planning authority records compiled by Landstack. Decisions made in the final days of Q3 2026 may not all be included yet. No decisions in any of the three quarters shown lack a recorded outcome. The consents were small in scale: the 29 approvals this quarter delivered 13 homes. Developers should expect Oxford to keep handling mostly small, infill-scale residential schemes.
Market data at a glance
The Oxford numbers, visualised
Median sale price by property type
1,574 sales clearing across the type-mix
F£330,000
£330k
T£464,000
£464k
S£480,000
£480k
D£834,000
£834k
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, rolling 12 months.
New build mix
+42.9% premium9
1,565
New build · 0.6%Existing stock
Planning approval rate
77%approved
of 140 decided applicationsOxford quarterly median price & volume
Median sale priceTransactions
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Median computed across all registered transactions per period.
How Oxford compares
Market
Median
YoY
12m txns
Oxford
£455,000
+1.1%
1,574
South East average
£400,000
+1.1%
—
UK average
£285,000
+1.4%
—
Development pipeline
Live planning activity in Oxford
Across the authority, 54 applications are awaiting a decision. Together they propose 88 homes with an estimated GDV of £31.7m, estimated from local sold-price medians by property type. The largest pending scheme by value is 26/01928/FUL from Kingerlee Ltd at OX3 9RQ. It proposes demolishing an existing children's home and building 16 x 1 bed apartments, with an estimated GDV of £5.3m. Next is 26/01542/FUL from Dunne Property Developments Limited at OX3 9EG, estimated at £2.6m. It would replace a semi-detached building with a part three storey block of 8 flats and ground floor commercial space. At OX3 8FT, Gareth Bertram Ltd's 25/03396/FUL proposes three detached houses (one 4 bed and two 3 bed), estimated at £2.5m. Lucy Group Limited's 26/02148/FUL at OX2 6DU would add a roof extension of 7 x 2 bed flats, estimated at £2.3m. Most of the pipeline sits in OX3 postcodes. It is made up of demolition and rebuild schemes and upward extensions rather than greenfield land. These schemes are small and most are flats, which suits short, tightly costed finance structures.
Top schemes by GDV in the pipeline
Notable pending applications
Pending26/01542/FUL
8
units
Demolition of the existing semi-detached building and outbuildings. Erection of a part three storey apartment block to create 3 x 1 bed, 4 x 2 bed and 1 x 3 bed flats (Use Class C3). Ground floor to include 2no. commercial units (Use Class E). Provision of private amenity space, 6no. car parking bays, bin and cycle stores and associated landscaping. (Amended description and plans).
Pending25/03396/FUL
3
units
Erection of 3no. detached two storey buildings to create 1 x 4 bed dwellinghouse and 2 x 3 bed dwellinghouses (Use Class C3). Provision of private amenity space, bin and cycle stores. Alterations to boundary wall to provide access gates. (Amended description and plans).
Pending26/02148/FUL
7
units
Erection of a single storey roof extension to create 7 x 2 bed flats (Use Class C3) and associated works. Erection of a four storey rear extension to the stair core to provide lift access.
Pending26/02017/FUL
6
units
Demolition of existing buildings. Erection of two-and-a-half storey buildings to include 3 x 2 bed dwellinghouses, 1 x 2 bed flat and 2 x 1 bed flat (Use Class C3). Part-use of ground floor for commercial use (Use Class E). Installation of air source heat pumps. Provision of private amenity space, bin and bike stores. Associated landscaping. (Amended plans).
Pending26/01383/FUL
6
units
Demolition of existing derelict building. Erection of a three storey building containing 6 x 1 bed flats (Use Class C3). Provision of bin and bike stores and associated works. Provision of solar panels and 2 no. Air Source Heat Pumps. (Amended Address).
Source: Oxford City planning records via Landstack. GDV estimates use local sales medians by property type.
Sales activity
Recent Oxford sold prices
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for the 12 months to 30 June 2026 shows a median price of £455,000 across 1,574 transactions, up 1.1% year on year. Median prices by type were £834,000 for detached, £480,000 for semi-detached, £464,000 for terraced and £330,000 for flats. Quarterly medians have stayed in a narrow range. They were £475,000 in 2025-Q3, £450,000 in 2025-Q4, £440,000 in 2026-Q1 and £450,450 in 2026-Q2. The 275 transactions recorded so far for 2026-Q2 are not a sign of falling activity. Land Registry registers sales weeks or months after completion, so the most recent quarter is still filling. The same applies to new build: 9 new build sales have been registered so far. For most of the pending pipeline the flat median is the key exit benchmark. At £330,000, it is the figure lenders will test one and two bed schemes against. Developers should base their exit values on recent comparable flat sales in the scheme's own postcode, not on the city-wide figure.
Latest registered sales
Land Registry · 3 October 2026| Date | Address | Type | Tenure | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
26 August 2026 | 1, DALE CLOSE | D | F | £620,000 |
24 August 2026 | 58, RIDGEFIELD ROAD | T | F | £685,000 |
20 August 2026 | FLAT 3, 318, LONDON ROAD | F | L | £268,000 |
19 August 2026 | 39, RAYMUND ROAD | S | F | £500,000 |
19 August 2026 | 85, FAIRACRES ROAD | T | F | £850,000 |
17 August 2026 | 14, CHAMPION WAY | S | F | £335,000 |
17 August 2026 | 16, SORREL ROAD | T | F | £330,000 |
14 August 2026 | 38, PRINCES STREET | T | F | £386,000 |
Oxford City approved 90.6% of decided applications in Q3 2026, but those 29 consents delivered just 13 homes.
For developers
What this means for Oxford schemes
This quarter's refusals show where risk lies in Oxford. 26/01507/FUL from PK UK Management Ltd at OX3 7RE was refused. It proposed demolishing a bungalow and building a three storey block of 8 x 1 bed flats. Two applications to change dwellinghouses into houses in multiple occupation were also refused, at OX3 8QP and OX3 8FG. The largest approval was 26/00636/FUL from Winslade Investments Ltd at OX2 7BY. It adds a storey to an existing three-storey building to create 5 x 1 bed and 1 x 2 bed flats. Taken together, these decisions suggest that well-designed upward extensions and conversions are getting through. Denser one bed replacement schemes and HMO conversions face more resistance. Upward extensions and conversions on this scale often fit senior development finance from 6.5% p.a., up to 65-70% LTGDV. Mezzanine can stretch total borrowing to 85-90% of costs. Bridging, completing in 5-10 days, can help developers buy sites or hold them while a decision is pending. Construction Capital works with a panel of 100+ lenders, family offices and equity partners.
Oxford development finance
Term sheets for ground-up schemes — 65-70% LTGDV typical for Oxford.
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See ratesOxford market hub
Full Oxford location profile — services, sold data, and contacts.
Visit hubFor sold prices by property type and the full planning pipeline, see the Oxford property market report.
Where we fund in Oxford
Outlook
The next 12 months in Oxford
Several pending schemes will be decided over the coming quarters, chiefly 26/01928/FUL and 26/01542/FUL. These will show whether Oxford City's 90.6% approval rate in Q3 2026 holds or drifts back towards the 77% recorded over the 12 months to 30 September 2026. The 16 apartment Kingerlee Ltd scheme is the clearest test of how the authority treats replacement schemes made up entirely of one bed flats, especially after the PK UK Management Ltd refusal at OX3 7RE. On the sales side, the year-on-year change of 1.1% points to a stable market rather than a rising one. Developers should therefore model flat exits close to the £330,000 median and not assume prices will grow. Transaction figures for 2026-Q2 will rise as Land Registry registrations catch up, so treat early readings with care. For developers, the most useful approach is to submit tightly designed schemes that address what the authority objected to in this quarter's refusals. Finance should be lined up early so that a consent can turn into a start on site without delay.
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Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data (sold prices); Oxford City planning records via Landstack (planning applications); ONS House Price Index (regional benchmarks). Report generated 4 October 2026 by Construction Capital's market intelligence team.
Methodology: Pending GDV is estimated by multiplying declared unit counts by local sales medians for the corresponding property type. Approval rate is the share of decided applications (last 12 months) granted permission. Sold-price changes are year-on-year comparisons of the median sale price. Pipeline activity refers to residential development applications only — household extensions, conditions variations, and other non-development applications are excluded. Construction Capital is a trading name of Lenzie Consulting Ltd. (08174104).