Why Is Cherwell Under Pressure to Approve So Many Houses — And Why Isn’t It Working?
18th December 2025
There has been widespread confusion and growing frustration across Cherwell about housing numbers: how many new homes are actually needed, why large developments are being approved outside local plans, and why councils are still judged to be “failing” on housing delivery despite thousands of permissions already being granted.
CPRE Oxfordshire has been examining the situation closely, and the picture that emerges reveals a planning system that is failing communities, councils and the countryside alike.
How the system is supposed to work
In theory, housing delivery should follow a clear, plan-led process. Local Plans identify where new homes should go over a 10–15 year period, shaped by evidence and public consultation. Developers then submit planning applications on those allocated sites, councils assess them against local policies, and once permission is granted, homes are built to meet community needs.
CPRE Oxfordshire strongly supports this plan-led approach as the most democratic and transparent way to ensure that environmental, social and economic needs are met, balanced with protection for landscapes, heritage and infrastructure.
What is happening in practice
In practice, this system is breaking down. Cherwell District Council is currently required to deliver between 911 and 1,979 homes per year, depending on which government methodology is applied. Yet in 2024/25, only 717 homes were actually built, down from 805 the previous year.
At the same time, Cherwell has already granted planning permission for 10,271 homes that have not yet been built, alongside land allocations for a further 6,123 homes over the next five years. Despite this substantial pipeline, the council is still deemed unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply — triggering severe consequences.
Why countryside sites are being approved
Under national planning rules, when a council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply, it must apply a so-called “tilted balance” in favour of development. This makes it far harder to refuse applications — even on unallocated countryside sites — and downgrades the importance of environmental, landscape and infrastructure considerations.
As a result, Cherwell has seen a surge in speculative housing approvals outside village boundaries in places such as Bloxham, Hook Norton and Milcombe, fundamentally altering rural communities and landscapes.
Crucially, these speculative permissions do not count towards meeting housing targets — further perpetuating the problem.
Targets that don’t reflect reality
One of the most serious flaws in the current system is that housing targets are disconnected from actual housebuilding. Councils have no control over when — or even whether — developers build homes once permission is granted. Yet councils are penalised when delivery falls short, even where thousands of approved homes remain unbuilt.
Meanwhile, developers can continue submitting new applications, often on less suitable sites, while land with existing permission lies dormant.
A system in need of reform
The situation in Cherwell is not unique — it is playing out across the country. CPRE Oxfordshire believes urgent reform is needed to:
- Align housing targets with delivery, not just permissions
- Restore the primacy of Local Plans
- Prevent speculative development undermining rural communities
- Ensure developers build approved homes before seeking new permissions
We encourage residents to raise these concerns with their MPs and call for a planning system that genuinely delivers the right homes, in the right places, while protecting Oxfordshire’s countryside for future generations.