Turning ambition into action: building affordable, low-carbon homes for Oxford

Together, we’re transforming an empty site into 51 low-energy homes: 27 for council rent and 24 for shared ownership across two four-storey buildings. Each home is designed to meet the Future Homes Standard.

The standard requires new housing to use less energy, produce fewer emissions, and stay warm through better insulation, airtight construction, and low-carbon heating such as solar panels. This will provide people with warm, comfortable homes that cost less to run.

Certainty matters most when costs are rising. Construction labour costs rose by 7.3% in the second quarter of 2025, pushing tender prices up by almost 1%. While material prices have steadied, pressure continues in key trades such as dry-lining and MEP packages. In this market, keeping control of cost, time, and quality is vital to protect value and maintain delivery confidence.

We are benchmarking live market data and testing contractor prices to stay on budget. We’re cutting unnecessary costs, so value stays where it matters, in good design, quality, and long-term savings of each home.

This approach has already kept key trades within budget, even with rising prices. It’s held the cost plan steady and allowed early procurement of long-lead materials. These choices protect the timeline and stop changes to the design that often weaken affordable housing.

We are holding look-ahead reviews with our contractor, Equans, to find risks early and fix them fast. Site inspections and pause points in the project help build quality at every stage. This cuts the need for fixes later and makes handovers easier. It saves time and costs while keeping standards high.

Our design follows a fabric-first strategy, reducing energy demand before adding technology. High-grade insulation, airtight detailing, and efficient glazing help each home retain heat longer, allowing for smaller, cheaper heating systems. Solar panels and heat-recovery systems generate clean power, cutting operational emissions and household bills for decades.

These choices go beyond regulation, future-proofing assets against tougher standards ahead and giving OX Place and residents confidence that the homes will perform as designed.

Northfield Gate supports OX Place’s mission to create more sustainable, affordable housing across Oxford. We’re helping by:

• Using land wisely: We test density and layout to fit more homes on brownfield sites without losing daylight or amenity. This helps Oxford meet housing demand without expanding onto greenfield land.
• Building for lasting value: We set clear goals for insulation and thermal-bridge targets. We track whole-life cost and carbon over time to make sure choices today lead to strong, resilient homes tomorrow.
• Giving residents certainty: We design for lower running cost and deliver with fewer defects, faster handovers, and clearer guidance. That means steady energy costs and homes that are easy to run.

Completion is due in spring 2027, but the project’s influence extends well beyond this site. Northfield Gate shows how disciplined cost control and low-carbon design can reinforce, not compete with, each other.

For Oxford, it means new homes that are affordable to buy and to run. For OX Place, it strengthens delivery confidence and future investment. For residents, it means warmth, comfort, and lower costs for the long term.

At Currie & Brown, we help clients turn intent into impact. We provide the clarity, confidence, and discipline to deliver affordable, low-carbon homes that stand the test of time.