The Oxfordshire County Council’s new budget includes increasing council tax by 4.99%, addressing a £5.4 million shortfall for 2026/27.
By 2028/29, funding to Oxford will decrease by £24.1 million as the government plans to redistribute funding to more deprived areas of the country.
The 2026/7 budget was approved on 10 February and allocates a total of £700 million. The budget includes reductions to an East Oxford development plan and some transportation services for “adult social care, children’s services and home to school transport”.
The proposition for the building of a new mortuary has been pushed back and a local school and leisure facility scheme has also faced a funding decrease. The budget also included funding for road developments, improvements to Wantage Market Place, flood prevention, and libraries.
Pointing to investments in highways, drainage, and libraries, County Councillor Liz Leffman stated: “We have not only been able to balance the budget for 2026/2027 but have included investments that will make a difference to the things which are of greatest importance to our residents.”
A crucial part of the budget is the increased council tax. Oxfordshire also faced a 4.99% council tax increase in 2025/6.
County Councillor Dan Levy told Cherwell: “Obviously we would rather not put up Council Tax, but there isn’t any choice, given the increasing pressures on budgets, including from increases imposed by central government via National Insurance increases, and decreasing support from central government. All the other parties at County Hall proposed the full Council Tax increase allowable, like us.”
Students are not subject to council taxes, but the changes will likely exacerbate the already expensive private rental market. Oxford has been ranked as one of the least affordable cities in the UK, with average private rents growing from £1,657 to £1,913 between December 2023 and December 2025, representing a 15.4% increase. In November, students queued for more than 48 hours to attempt to secure housing through property agency Finders Keepers for the next academic year.
The newly formed Oxford Renters Union has declared themselves open to students renting privately, as the collective believes they “face the same problems as working people concerning the cost, quality and stability of housing”. The union will not try to tackle issues with college- and University-owned accommodation at this time, citing their desire to prioritise problems affecting the majority of Oxford renters.
A spokesperson for the union told Cherwell: “We at the Oxford Renters Union believe it’s deeply unjust that renters pay higher council tax based on the higher valuation of the property they happen to be living in. Landlords of HMOs [house in multiple occupation] often push high council tax payments onto renters – and where renters pay council tax directly, that’s just one more favour they do for their landlord.”
The Renters’ Rights Bill, passed into law last October, also seeks to provide some protections for renters. Coming into effect in May, the law will forbid landlords from increasing rent more than once a year and without at least two months’ notice. However, the new law does not set any limits on rent increases.
