Through Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP), our partnership with housebuilder The Hill Group, we have been one of the top ten council house builders per capita for two of the last three years. We’ve built 700 net new council homes since 2018.
Through our ambitious house-building partnership with The Hill Group – Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP) – we are committed to improving accommodation standards for people living in existing council homes; and building additional council homes to meet local need and address wider housing supply issues, such as the need for more large family homes.
We do this by building high-quality new council homes and market-sale homes – both of which are in high demand – along with associated facilities such as new community centres.
We usually build on council-owned land, such as on the site of the council’s former depot, or on ageing council estates where existing homes often don’t meet modern standards our tenants deserve.
Through CIP the council is building more council homes per capita than almost all other councils in the country, being one of the top ten council house builders in both 2023 and 2024. In 2025 we finished building our 1,000th new home, including 700+ net new council homes, built across 23 sites in Cambridge.
Cambridge is one of the few councils in the country that has managed to increase the number of council homes in the last few years.
We have previously set out our ambition to expand upon the 1,000 homes already completed, to deliver 1,000 more council homes and 1,000 more market homes by 2030.
Market-sale homes are also in high demand in Cambridge. CIP is proud to build high-quality new market-sale homes on some of its development sites. The added benefit of these is that any profit the council makes from selling these homes is reinvested to fund the building of more council homes, as well as funding other much-needed facilities on these development sites – such as parks, preschools and community centres.
In February 2026 the council will be submitting a bid to Homes England to apply to become a Social and Affordable Housing Programme (SAHP) strategic partner.
If successful, a strategic partnership would secure long-term, flexible funding of up to £96 million from Homes England to support us to achieve our existing target of 1,000 council homes by 2030, and exceed this to build 1,300 council homes by 2036.
The funding through a strategic partnership would also enable us to offer more of the new council homes on the lowest level of council rent.
The need to build new council homes
Cambridge City Council owns 7,600+ council homes.
Since the 1980s, governments have allowed people living in council homes to purchase their homes under ‘Right to Buy’. Along with this, some ageing council homes were not built to last as long as many longer-standing old homes, meaning some council homes may become unsuitable for people to live in and therefore need to be demolished.
A combination of these issues mean that if we didn’t build new council homes, the number of council homes available to local people would shrink year on year.
As a council we have a vision for a Cambridge where everyone has a warm, safe, and affordable home. With Cambridge being one of the least affordable cities in the country, many local people hope to be able to move into a council house. We need to keep building new council homes to try and make this a reality for more people.
High quality new council homes
All new CIP homes meet or exceed national space standards, and our council homes are all designed to meet or exceed the ‘Cam Standard’. This is a standard introduced by the council to ensure that every new home delivers low operational energy use, high levels of thermal comfort and strong resilience to climate impacts.
Our sustainable housing design guide sets out the key design principles we will follow when building new homes and developing land.
Council tenants who have moved from ageing council homes into our newly built council homes have much more comfortable surroundings, with homes better able to be heated and ventilated. This can bring down people’s bills, or ensure people are able to stay warmer in winter without having their bills increase.
Case study: moving into a newly built council home
Diana lived in Hanover and Princess Courts for almost 23 years before moving to a new home in our Ironworks development in 2022.
Her three-bedroom flat at Hanover Court had provided stability for herself and her children, but by 2021, the estate was no longer fit for purpose, with structural issues, cladding concerns, and homes not meeting modern standards. She was offered the chance to move to a new home at Ironworks or Timberworks.
Diana received top priority on the council’s Home-Link system, a grant to cover moving costs, and a home loss payment, which helped her furnish her new home.
Diana said: “It was a huge decision to leave the place I’d lived the longest, but the council’s support made the move possible, both practically and emotionally. I love that my new flat is energy efficient, quiet and healthy to live in. If regeneration happens in your area, seize the opportunity; it can be the start of something positive.”
CIP developments
The best place to find out the latest information about specific CIP developments is on the CIP website.
Some historic information about CIP developments, and other background information about our housebuilding programme, is available on our Affordable housing programme webpage, but please note that this page is not kept up to date.
