Oxford-Cambridge Arc builds opportunities

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc has been identified as an area for major development, with government plans to improve infrastructure within and to the area, in order to maximise arising opportunities.

While we await confirmation of infrastrcuture plans in road and rail links, development is already picking up in the area arojund Milton Keynes and south Bedfordshire. According to a recent report from Savills, The Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Arc, the greatest opportunities for growth in the area are around Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire where the new east-west road and rail links will cross the Midlands and East Coast Main Line and the M1. Today, Milton Keynes ranks as the fastest-growing city in the UK with a population projected to increase from 270,000 currently to 500,000 by 2050.

Glenigan Construction data reflects the buoyant level of construction activity around Milton Keynes. One keenly-anticipated office contract due to be announced early this year is for the construction of Santander’s new £150M digital hub in the city. Tenders have been returned on the project which will involve almost 55,000sq m of new office space and work is set to start in the spring and continue for 37 months.

Milton Keynes’ prospects will be bolstered by a new university in the city centre, which it set to open in 2023 with 5,000 students and with a focus on STEM subjects. Construction on the project, MK: U Phase I, is at the pre-tender stage and will involve work worth £188M on a campus involving 61,120sq m of new space.

Meanwhile, the absence of tight constraints on housing compared to other cities in the arc such as Oxford has meant Milton Keynes can accommodate more new homes; MK is building at the rate of 1.4% of its housing stock annually, compared to 0.4% in Oxford.

One significant housing scheme where a contract has been awarded and reserved matters granted is Countryside Properties’ £25.5M scheme for 226 houses and 95 flats at Snellshall Street in Milton Keynes.

New residents will also benefit from improved retail facilities, with The Point Milton Keynes shopping centre redevelopment at pretender stage.

Long term, the outlook is rosy for new construction in Milton Keynes and across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. According to Savills, the Arc has the potential to deliver one million new homes and create up to 1.1 million new jobs by 2050 if the necessary new infrastructure is delivered.

To accommodate growth for promising sectors such as pharmaceutical, cyber security, automotive and biotechnology, the agent says the Arc region will need an extra 9.6M sq ft of office and R&D floorspace and 69M sq ft of warehouse space.

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