Affordable homes change dubbed 'a dangerous game'

A council has been accused of "playing a dangerous game" after amending plans to redevelop a council estate to secure funding from the government.

The majority of properties on Cambridge's Ekin Road are set to be demolished and replaced, with most now lying empty.

Plans submitted in January outlined that the 91 council homes would be replaced with 78 on the estate, with a further 120 built on the nearby East Barnwell scheme on Newmarket Road.

But residents were told the plans had been amended after a "viability assessment" found it would not be financially viable to build 40% social homes on the Ekin Road scheme. It was instead requested this be reduced to 20 affordable homes - or 15%.

Colin McGerty, 53, an Abbey resident and former city councillor, said the change would make "everyone very nervous. They are playing a dangerous game – what if they don't get the funding, what's their plan B?"

Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP), a joint venture between Cambridge City Council and The Hill Group, submitted plans to build 134 homes on the site.

"I know that they are people who want to do good for the city so I have a degree of faith but it would be good to make sure that we're applying that pressure. I want to make sure the application is the right one, that's the only reason I would object," McGerty added.

Labour councillor Gerri Bird, Cambridge City Council cabinet member for housing, said: "Cambridge City Council has delivered 879 new council homes since 2018, helping to increase the supply of high-quality, affordable housing across the city.

"Recently, we secured £96.4m in funding from Homes England to support the delivery of 1,400 additional council homes as part of our longer-term housing programme."

The council has reassured residents that all the council homes would still be delivered and this reduction was necessary to secure funding from Homes England to convert the remaining 58 homes to council housing.

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