The effect of grid problems is not often thought of in relation to housing.
With housing developments competing for power against energy-hungry tech companies and the city’s increasingly electrified transport network, connection prospects are a matter of concern for housebuilders…
“The latest expansion in Bicester [near Oxford] was supposed to see an additional 7,000 homes and a large commercial zone built, but they’ve been put on pause because grid reinforcements are needed to get them further,” says Brown, who is also a vice-chair of the District Councils’ Network, a cross-party group of 169 district and unitary councils in England. “I don’t think Oxfordshire is unique at all. I know it is becoming quite a big issue across the country.”…
One developer was forced to shrink a development of more than 80 homes to fewer than 20 because it could not secure enough electricity. Another said capacity limitations meant it had had to cut the number of electric car chargers on a site. In an extreme example, one building firm scrapped a planned development of almost 100 homes after a £570,000 charge to secure a new connection made the scheme unviable.
DB2