Wantage constituency named 'Britain’s housebuilding capital'

Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, the constituency, which includes Didcot, Faringdon, Wallingford, and Wantage, grew by 9,390 households, a rise of 21 per cent.

The new developments include Great Western Park, a village of 3,300 homes in Didcot, and the partly-finished Kingsgrove estate near Wantage, which will have 1,500 homes when completed.

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The Sunday Times, which amassed the data, described it as “Britain’s housebuilding capital.”

The housing boom in the area has caused a strain on infrastructure, it reported, especially with the lack of a GP surgery in Great Western Park.

Conservative councillor Ian Snowdon, who represents Didcot on Oxfordshire County Council and South Oxfordshire District Council, told the newspaper: “All the surgeries here are full up to new arrivals.

“Children are accepted, but everyone else has to stay with their original doctor — which means I’ve got residents going back to their GP in places like Slough for appointments.”

Residents also reported a lack of school places and criticised the “doll’s house” design of the homes.

Tom Calver, data editor for the Sunday newspaper, said the housing boom was also influencing the politics of the area.

The decline of the Conservatives - the largest party in south Oxfordshire between 2003 and 2019 before it was almost wiped out at May’s local elections - was due to the influx of new families, he suggested in the article.