Frequently asked questions

The project will be completed in two phases as shown below;

Phase 1

• District Centre (Blocks A and D, coloured green and pink on the plan):
  • Block A – the dates are to be confirmed – subjected to approval from Building Safety Regulator to allow works to start. Regulations have changed for taller buildings and there is more detail about this below in the Block A section
  • Block D – early 2026
• Knights Road – by July 2026, with completions starting in October 2025

Phase 2

• District Centre (Blocks B and C – coloured orange and purple on the plan
• Works will start when Block A is completed and the retail units have moved to the new shops units.

New building regulations, including the Building Safety Act, mean we are taking additional steps as part of a new process to improve fire safety in high-rise buildings.

The new process is managed by the Building Safety Regulator.  It has three stages requiring approval – one for each stage of construction.  We are currently at stage two.  Our contractor, Hill, will begin construction of Block A once this has been approved.

We have submitted a revised application to the regulator as the first application was rejected in November 2024– approximately 75% of applications are rejected on first submission.

This approval process normally takes 12 weeks, however there is currently a shortage of qualified inspectors to assess applications, which means it may take longer.

We hope to begin construction on Block A in late 2025 and complete work in mid-2027.  However, we cannot confirm timings until we receive approval from the Building Safety Regulator.

This delay has also affected progress on the shops at Block A.

New homes will be allocated according to Oxford City Council’s affordable housing policy. There is information on their website about who is eligible for social housing, and also information about how they allocate homes.

There will be new homes built at three locations:

At Block A, which is opposite the shops, there will be 51 one- and two-bedroom flats in total, all for social rent. This block also includes 10 retail units.

At Block D, which is next to Evenlode Tower, there will be 61 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats in total, all for social rent.

At Knights Road there will be 84 two- and three-bedroom houses in total, available to buy through Shared Ownership.

At Blocks B and C, there will be 62 one and two bedroom flats for social rent and 36 one and two bedroom flats for shared ownership, subject to a viability assessment.

There will be no flats above the Community Centre.

Social rent is typically 40% of the rent that a private landlord would charge in Oxford to support people on low incomes. Details on how to apply within Oxford are included in the link to the Oxford City website.

Shared Ownership is a scheme where you buy a percentage of a property’s full value and then pay a subsided rent on the remaining portion.  Through a process called staircasing, you can increase the percentage you own over time.

Find out more

We are building spaces for new modern shops on the ground floor of Block A.  The current shops will remain open until the new shops are built, and all current shop owners will have the opportunity to move into one of the new shops.

We have worked with the local community to understand their views about the new Blackbird Leys Community Centre and the public space surrounding it.

We have finalised plans for the new Community Centre and now obtained planning consent from Oxford City Council.  You can find out more about the plans on the website.

Work is expected to start in late 2025.

Highways work at the District Centre started in November 2024 following an agreement with Oxfordshire County Council.

A lot of progress has been made and we are very grateful to the local community for their patience whilst roads have been closed and access to the shops and parking has been very limited.

The work has taken longer than anticipated because of delays with diverting services.   Thames Water’s main diversion has been complicated and taken Thames Water much longer to complete than they originally hoped.

As at the end of August 2025, the new road through the District Centre in front of the shops will be open by the end of October.

We have provided dropped kerbs on Blackbird Leys Road to improve access for people using mobility scooters and pushchairs.

We will also create more pedestrian crossings across the Blackbird Leys Road and Cuddesdon Way, and realign the road opposite the shops and two of these have already been in place for a few months.

There will be separated cycle lanes throughout the District Centre.  These are designed to connect with any future cycle routes in the area.

All major highways improvements are being carried out under a legal agreement with Oxfordshire County Council.

Knights Road

There will be 83 parking spaces in total at Knights Road.  29 will be allocated to residents, and 54 will be unallocated but the residents will have permit to park in these spaces. This is in line with Oxfordshire County Council parking standards.  There will also be a car club space – more information on car clubs is below.

District Centre

There will be 82 parking spaces in total at the District Centre.

• 38 spaces will be re-provided. 32 of these will be within the site boundary, and six spaces will be retained on Blackbird Leys Road South.  These are for existing residents and members of the community in the area.
• All existing 18 spaces will be re-provided for Evenlode Tower residents.
• There will be nine spaces for the new flats. Seven of these will be for Block D residents and the other two for Block C.  All spaces will be specifically allocated to residents.
• There will be 14 spaces for the Community Centre and shops. Four will be accessible spaces, and one will be a minibus parking space.
• There will be three car club spaces.

Car clubs are short-term car rental services that allow members to access locally parked cars and use them on a pay-as-you-go basis. This service allows members to rent vehicles often by the hour or day, as an alternative to owning a car.

All construction work is being carried out under approvals from the appropriate authorities to protect wildlife.

Our contractor, Hill, is taking careful steps when operating around wildlife.

Examples include:

• We have placed fencing around the woodland area at the Knights Road site and the site compound has been located away from wildlife habitats.
• Preparations for tree removal included employing a falconer and using a trained hawk to humanely deter birds from nesting while work happened, and employing an ecologist to monitor the trees and confirm that no resting birds were disturbed.
• We will provide 37 bird boxes to cater for different types of birds, provided 37 tree-mounted bat boxes and changed the street lights to not disturb bat activity.
• During construction, we are keeping artificial lighting to a minimum to reduce disturbance to wildlife.

The redevelopment will allow the tree canopy cover to extend by over 400m² over a 25-year across both sites and we will plant native species to encourage local biodiversity.

We are creating a new green and public square by Block A.

There will be a play area between Evenlode Tower and Block D, and Block A will also feature a roof garden for the residents of that block.

Knights Road will include a play area and other landscaped areas including a central green space.

Our plans for the Community Centre also include plenty of open space, landscaped public squares, a central lawn, and new tree planting.

The old swimming pool will be demolished to make room for the new Community Centre.

Oxfordshire County Council will ensure local education and healthcare services continue to provide for the people of Blackbird Leys.