Cambridge City Council takes £96.4m from Homes England for 803 homes, 723 at social rent. It is one of three councils among 33 partners, and the smallest award.
Cambridge City Council has been handed £96.4m by Homes England to build 803 homes, and it is one of only three councils among the 33 organisations picked as strategic partners. Every other name on the list is a housing association or a housebuilder.
Homes England published the full table of strategic partners for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026 to 2036 on 25 August. Thirty-three organisations share the funding, which is for delivery outside London. (Homes England)
Cambridge appears in that table for 803 homes and £96.4m. Only two other councils are on it:
- Cambridge City Council: 803 homes, £96.4m
- Newcastle City Council: 966 homes, £141.4m
- Eastleigh Borough Council: 1,042 homes, £154.4m
The other 30 partners are organisations such as Clarion, Sanctuary, Orbit and Vistry Homes. Added up, the 33 rows come to 73,617 homes and about £9.58bn. Homes England notes that the grant figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
Cambridge’s row is the smallest in the table on both counts: fewest homes and smallest grant. That works out at about £120,000 of grant per home, which is the tenth lowest rate of the 33. The median across the table is about £126,000 a home.
Being a strategic partner is not the only way into the programme. Homes England says these 33 will join other organisations funded through a second route, called Continuous Market Engagement.
What the council says it unlocks
The council’s account of the award goes further than the Homes England table. It says the partnership finances 803 council homes, 723 of them at social rent, which it describes as “the lowest tier of rent at just 40-45% of the market rate”. (Cambridge City Council)
Winning the bid also releases £584m the council had already committed. Together the council says that funds:
- nearly 3,000 new homes in Cambridge by 2036
- 1,400 of those as new council homes
- at least 60% of the council homes at social rent
- 5% of all council homes designed for wheelchair users
All the homes are to be built to the council’s CAM Standard, which it says goes beyond national building rules on environment, energy and space.
The first money is expected to land on schemes that are ready to go. The council names Hanover and Princess Court, which recently secured planning permission, with work expected to start early next year. Cllr Gerri Bird, cabinet member for housing, also named Ekin Road.
“With nearly 1,400 new council homes we can make a significant dent in the waiting list for council homes and ease pressure on cost of living for many, many families in Cambridge,” Cllr Bird said.
Cllr Katie Thornburrow, the council leader, called it “the biggest investment in social housing for a generation”.
Much of the building is done through the Cambridge Investment Partnership, the council’s joint venture with The Hill Group, set up in February 2017. Andy Hill, the group’s chief executive, said the funding meant it could deliver “many more” homes, “including homes for private sale or rent”. A separate Small Sites Programme is intended to bring smaller local developers in.
The size of the queue this is aimed at
The council’s own housing figures show what 1,400 homes over ten years is being measured against. In its most recent published Housing Key Facts report, covering March 2025, the council recorded:
- 2,878 live applicant households on the housing register
- 628 homes let in the year to that March
- 71% of applicants in priority bands A, B or C
- 79% of applicants needing a one or two bedroom home
The council’s own commentary is blunt about the gap. It says there were “still over four times more applicants on the register than homes let during the year to that date”, and that “it remains the case that some applicants may never be housed”. (Cambridge City Council Housing Key Facts)
Those are the newest figures the council has published. They predate this award by well over a year, so they measure the problem rather than any effect of the money.
What it means for you
Nothing changes for anyone currently on the housing register. This is capital funding for building, spread to 2036. The first scheme the council names has planning permission, but work is not expected to start until early next year.
Two things are worth watching:
- Whether the social rent share holds. The headline promise is at least 60% of 1,400 council homes at social rent. The 803 homes funded directly through the partnership are about 90% social rent. The gap between those two figures is where the detail will sit.
- Hanover and Princess Court. The council says work is expected to start early next year. That is the first test of the “shovel ready” claim, and it is checkable.
If you want to apply for council housing, the council explains who qualifies and how to join the register on its applying for council housing page.
For what homes are selling for in the city, see our Cambridge house prices page, and for the applications going through the system, Cambridge planning news.
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