Summertown shops demolition for student rooms ‘resentment’

Major plans to knock down Suffolk House in Summertown and replace it with a student block have been submitted to the city council amid warnings of an Oxford housing “crisis”.

It follows recent approvals to increase student room numbers in city centre accommodation and at a new 250-room Headington graduate college.

The Banbury Road site is the location of several independent businesses, and representatives have warned the “major local concern is that this will be lost”.

The 1930s building, originally a garage and converted into shops in the 1970s, currently houses Kopitiam restaurant, Pen to Paper stationery store, Idlewild hair salon, Burnout BBQ, Yoga Venue, Mathasium tutoring, as well as Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores, with the area’s only ATMs.

Suffolk House, Summertown (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

Suffolk House in the 80s (Image: TSH architects/planning portal)

Suffolk house in the 50s (Image: TSH architects/planning portal)

Proposals said: “The new mixed-use building will make a positive contribution to the surrounding streetscape, creating a more attractive and welcoming environment.

“Flexible ground-floor retail units will provide modern shop spaces with active frontages that support the vitality of Summertown district centre, while new residents above will increase footfall throughout the day and evening.”

CGI images of the proposed Suffolk House development (Image: TSH Architects)

An aerial view of the proposed building (Image: TSH Architects)

Street view of the proposed development from Caffe Nero (Image: TSH Architects)

New plans would retain four retail spaces, a reduction from the current seven and the six originally suggested to residents in a developer consultation ahead of its planning application.

In its proposal, TSH architects, on behalf of developers Brydell Partners, state that the current shops are constrained by the quality of the building, making the spaces ‘dated and enclosed’ with low ceilings.

It claims the new premises would be designed flexibly to meet the needs of “existing retailers, independent businesses and national brands”.

This is disputed by business owners and workers who say they are facing the possibility of an “expensive” relocation and years of closure if the redevelopment is approved.

Andy Morse, owner of Pen To Paper, a stationery store which has been at Suffolk House for 35 years, said: “If the planning application goes through then, sometime before works will commence, we will be out of our unit.”

Pen to Paper at Suffolk House, Summertown (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

Andy, owner of Debbie at Pen to Paper (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

He explained the potential for relocation would be dependent on the availability of a different local site, adding that “moving, fitting and opening a new shop is a very expensive operation”.

Andy described a “decades-long friendship” with customers, who he says have been “brilliantly supportive” amid the potential for the shops’ demolition.

He said some of the customers knew about the plans before they did, and the store had received “no advance warning” from its landlords.

The shop owner acknowledged that the old building needs “regeneration”, and it has been on the cards for around five years.

He does not believe student housing is the right use of the space with that “regeneration”.

He said: “Nothing against students, but I think the council should be providing more housing opportunities for local people.

“Particularly young people and new families who want to live in their local community.”

Plans state: “The objective of the proposed redevelopment is to provide new purpose-built student accommodation, above commercial retail spaces, in the district centre at the corner of Banbury Road and South Parade.”

Shop manager Debbie has been working for Pen to Paper for 23 years, previously at its Headington store, which closed in 2022 – has been in Summertown for four.

She believes the loss of the store is “not good for the community”, adding they will be “losing a lot”.

Debbie said: “All the feedback we have had is very negative and against it going through.”

Employees at other units shared concerns, including at Mathnasium, which would also have to relocate.

Robyn Hardyman lives at a neighbouring property and believes the new building would be “just to big for the site” and warned of “severe repercussions” for locals with the loss of the supermarkets.

Opposing the plans, she said: “If there is no supermarket here there will be very severe repercussions: residents will be massively adversely impacted, plus footfall in Summertown will fall dramatically and all local businesses will suffer.

“At the consultation meeting the developer told us they were doubtful about having supermarkets here.

“This must be guaranteed in some way before the project goes any further.”

Robyn added: “This is the most significant development in Summertown in a generation. It is so important to get it right, for local residents, for local businesses, and for the wider community.

“This massive overdevelopment imposes too heavily on local infrastructure, while offering nothing for our community, and is not the solution.”

Katherine Miles, Lib Dem city council leader and ward representative, said the local businesses “play a vital part to the local economy and add to the cherished character of Summertown”.

Katherine Miles at Suffolk House (Image: Supplied)

She said: “Support is needed for these businesses during the upgrade of the retail space to ensure they can survive this disruption and be assured of retail space when the development is complete.”

Employees reported being told the block could take two to three years to be built.

Ms Miles called the plans a “wasted opportunity”, explaining she would want to see “more housing for older people wanting to downsize from family homes and remain walking distance from the shops, library and GP surgery”, adding Summertown is “crying out for housing for young professionals such as teachers and healthcare workers”.

Labour Summertown county councillor Dr James Fry said: “The Suffolk House site in its prominent corner site on Banbury Road is clearly ripe for redevelopment.

“The major local concern is that this will be lost to student housing, with a large number of small units, rather than being used to provide very badly needed housing to meet our housing shortage for people in the city.”

He said use as a 100 per cent student block is “compounding the resentment” as the developers would not be required to offer affordable housing.

He noted the loss of ATM machines, would be “reinforcing Summertown’s unenviable reputation as an ATM, bank and post office desert” and could “greatly magnify the problem”.

Dr Fry is calling for a joint bank-post office hub in the area.

A spokesperson for Brydell Partners said the developers have already undertaken a “comprehensive programme of engagement” on plans “including discussions with existing tenants, local community groups, elected representatives and other stakeholders”.

They said the discussions are ongoing about the future for businesses in Suffolk House and proposals would “transform a dated and underutilised building” incorporating feedback.

The spokesperson added: “It is our intention is to retain supermarket provision within any future scheme, subject to the future priorities of supermarket operators.”