Greater Cambridgeshire Housing Strategy 2024 to 2029

A new Housing Strategy (adopted June 2024) sets out how both South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council aim to tackle the housing challenges facing the area in the next 5 years. It demonstrates the Councils’ shared priorities, as well as where priorities differ between the 2 Councils. 

Our priorities include:

• increasing the supply of new homes, including affordable housing
• promoting affordable homes for local people through the Council’s rural exception sites policy
• enabling the housing market to meet a wide range of local housing needs and support sustainable growth
• mitigating and adapting to climate change in new and existing homes
• tackling the ‘Affordability’ Challenge
• promoting health and wellbeing, tackling poverty, and promoting equality
• improving housing conditions, management and safety of homes, and making best use of existing homes
• preventing homelessness.

Challenges include an ageing population, particularly in South Cambridgeshire, as well as population growth. Additionally, both councils face challenges of ambitions to achieve net zero carbon in the years ahead.

A growing ‘affordability gap’ means middle income households are being squeezed out of the market, with limited housing options for home ownership or in the private rented sector. Both Councils are also acutely aware of recruitment issues within the local workforce linked to the high cost of housing in the area. Affordable housing helps to provide options for people on lower to average incomes who would otherwise struggle to afford to rent or buy locally.