Cambridge City Council presses ahead with plans to demolish Davy Road flats for new homes
A project that could see 1950s blocks of flats in Cambridge demolished to make way for new homes has taken a step forward.
Cambridge City Council is moving forward with its plans to redevelop the flats in Davy Road, which are described as being in a “poor” state.
However, concerns have been raised that the replacement housing proposed will not help address inequality in the city.
Officers told councillors at a housing scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday (17 September) that the estate had a “number of issues” due to the ageing buildings.
They said the blocks of flats would be “difficult to retrofit” to bring them up to the standards that would be expected from a new build.
Therefore, the authority is proposing to demolish the blocks and build 90 homes in their place, 45 of which would be council homes.
Officers said the properties are proposed to be a mix of social rented homes, and homes offered at 60 per cent of market rent, and 80 per cent of market rent.
The officer added that there had been “extensive consultation” on the proposals, resulting in the redevelopment being “narrowed down”.
Officers said they hoped the planning application for the redevelopment would be submitted later this year, or early next year.
Cllr Gerri Bird (Lab, East Chesterton), executive councillor for housing, said the existing flats were in a “poor” state, with many people reporting problems with damp, mould and condensation.
She said: “There are many people in need of a new home in the city and by redeveloping we can significantly increase the number of homes on the site as we approach 3,000 people on our housing register.”
However, Cllr Elliot Tong (Green, Abbey) raised concerns that the redevelopment could see the number of homes available at social rents reduced.
He said: “With the current proposals that are going forward we will see 32 properties for social rent be reduced to only five, which is a massive reduction in the amount of social rent properties available.
“We are seeing the problem of inequality in Cambridge get worse and worse, Cambridge is considered one of if not the most unequal city in the UK.
“Redevelopments like this are not going to make life easier for working people.
“I have seen people being stuck on the council house waiting list for such a long period of time and I could not in good conscience vote this proposal forward, because it does feel like a bit of a betrayal for the people that are very patiently waiting.
“I do understand there are financial considerations, but I think we need to focus our attention on really making sure we are providing desperately needed council housing, at social rent specifically, because that is what the city needs.”
Officers explained that the five social rented homes was the minimum proposed at this stage. They added that other homes would be offered at 60 per cent of market rent and 80 per cent of market rent.
Officers also said many people who receive Universal Credit or housing benefit would have most of that rent paid for. Although it was highlighted that broadly only 50 per cent of council tenants receive these benefits.
Officers said the council needed to be “financially prudent” and said it was difficult to make building homes for social rent “financially viable”.
Cllr Daniel Lee (Lib Dem, Queen Edith’s) said he agreed the flats had “seen better days”.
However, he said the argument put forward was often to knock the flats down and build again, rather than retrofitting the buildings.
Cllr Lee said he believed the council needed to look at how it was maintaining these buildings for them to be in such a poor state.
He added that if it was just a case of the buildings reaching the end of their life span, then he said the authority needed to make sure the new flats did not need to be demolished in 80 years time.
Officers said it was very hard to retrofit some of the old housing in the city and for it to be financially viable.
They said the life span of these buildings was “certainly coming to an end”, but said the standards of new buildings are now “much higher”, and therefore they hoped the new homes “will last a long long time”.
Concerns were also raised at the meeting that leaseholders in Davy Road could be facing maintenance fees, despite the fact their homes could be knocked down under the redevelopment plans.
During public questions to councillors, Sarah Nicmanis said leaseholders had been sent letters telling them they would be charged for repairs to the buildings, which could cost them thousands-of-pounds.
She said the leaseholders were being left in “confusion and disbelief” about what was going on.
Cllr Bird said structural repairs did need to be completed on the buildings, but said the work had been reduced to the “minimum required to maintain the buildings in a safe condition”.
She also said the council had not requested any payment yet from leaseholders for the work.
Officers explained that no bill for the work would be sent to leaseholders until September next year, at which point they suggested some people could have moved out as the council will need to buy back the leasehold properties to undertake the proposed redevelopment.