PLANS to spend millions of pounds to encourage house and road building in Oxfordshire may have been pushed off course by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Oxfordshire Growth Board is due to hold its first virtual meeting next week.

The board is made up of councillors from the different district councils and Oxfordshire County Council, and they discuss how millions of pounds of government funding will be spent to encourage building 100,000 homes by 2030.

A report due to be presented to the board on June 2, and to its scrutiny panel tomorrow (June 28) describes the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the plans to build these new homes.

The report said the virus is likely to push back the six council's ability to build new homes at as quick a rate as was expected before the virus arrived in the UK.

This was largely because of construction companies being unable to work during the lockdown, and also because of the longer term economic impact on the housing market.

The Oxfordshire Growth Deal, which the growth board manages, is a five year deal, and all money must be spent by 2023.