Michael Gove’s 150,000 homes vision demolished - as government demands lower Greater Cambridge housebuilding targets than already planned

Michael Gove’s ambition to build 150,000 new homes in the Greater Cambridge area appears to have been kicked into touch by the new Labour government – which has demanded lower housebuilding targets than were already being planned.

The spectre of an unprecedented level of development designed to ‘supercharge’ Cambridge appears to have been lifted with the release of the fresh targets.

And new housing minster Matthew Pennycook has written to Cambridgeshire’s leaders to ask for an “early in-person discussion” to “reset” the relationship following the announcement.

Cambridge has been told it must build 1,068 homes a year to meet housing needs. This is up 55 per cent on the 687 currently required by the government.

And South Cambridgeshire has been told to build 1,156 new homes a year, up 11 per cent on the current demand of 1,039.

If these figures were met for the period 2020-2041, it would mean 46,704 new homes in Greater Cambridge.

But, working together as Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, the city council and South Cambridgeshire District Council are already planning for 51,700 homes under their emerging Local Plan for the period, including major developments at the likes of Northstowe, Waterbeach, West Cambourne and North East Cambridge. Their plans have always exceeded government minimum targets, as they based them on forecasts of job growth in the region.

Former Conservative housing secretary Mr Gove caused shockwaves in December 2023 when he unveiled proposals to turbocharge Cambridge growth with up to 150,000 homes by 2050, leaving local authorities feeling like they were being sidelined.

Mr Pennycook’s letter to Cambridgeshire’s leaders underlines the “vital role” Cambridge will play in kickstarting the economy. This, he said, would be achieved by removing “barriers” to the delivery of new housing, infrastructure and laboratory space.

The minister also wants to address the concerns of communities about what the future might hold for Cambridge.

This is part of a nationwide shake-up of planning that will make housing targets mandatory for local councils.

A statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that – even if an area had an existing Local Plan – it was prepared to “take the tough decisions and step in where needed to drive progress, ensuring local areas get a say on how, but not if, homes are built”.

Mr Pennycook said: “Greater Cambridge has a vital role to play in this government’s mission to kickstart economic growth and we are determined to maximise the potential contribution it could make to the UK economy by helping to remove barriers to the delivery of vital housing, infrastructure, and laboratory space.

“Many crucial decisions remain to be made about the precise form that ambitious and high-quality sustainable growth in the area takes. I am determined that we take a collaborative approach to them, ensuring that the insight and invaluable knowledge of local leaders fully informs the government’s thinking.

“That is why today I am making clear that the government intends to reset the crucial relationship with local partners to ensure we are delivering new housing and infrastructure in a way that benefits the city and its surrounding areas and seeking to address the concerns of communities who may be anxious about what the future might hold.”

The government is consulting on implementing a new standard method and calculation to ensure Local Plans are ambitious enough to support the government’s manifesto commitment of 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament.

Together, Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire are being told to deliver an increase in housebuilding targets of around 25 per cent. East Cambridgeshire’s individual target is 655 homes a year, up from 583.

The new annual ‘housing need’ figure across the whole of the East of England would increase by around 28 per cent from 35,101 to 44,858. This would be an increase of around 62 per cent compared to recent rates of housing delivery across the region.

The government’s first local target is Northstowe, where the next 3,000 new homes are being lined up, 50 per cent of which are to be affordable, alongside a new town centre.

The stalled site was named by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as part of her growth speech last month, which announced a new accelerator taskforce to support government intervention.

But Greater Cambridge Shared Planning has already been working on ambitious housebuilding plans. The latest version of its emerging Local Plan for 2020-2041 earmarks 14,500 extra homes between 2020 and 2041 on top of the 37,200 homes already provided for by the previous 2018 plans. That is a total of 51,700 homes, meaning it would exceed government targets – if the homes are all built.

Mr Pennycook’s letter was sent to Combined Authority mayor Dr Nik Johnson, the Lib Dem leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cllr Bridget Smith, the Lib Dem leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, the Labour leader of Cambridge City Council, Cllr Mike Davey, and Labour’s chair of the Greater Cambridge Partnership board, Cllr Elisa Meschini.

The letter said: “We believe that the recent focus on Cambridge and its untapped economic potential are entirely warranted. The city’s strengths in knowledge-intensive businesses and its unique innovation ecosystem are well documented, with strong connections between investors, researchers, businesses and local government. The economic growth of Cambridge has been a phenomenal success and we should seek to maximise the potential contribution that Greater Cambridge could make to the UK economy.

“Cambridge is of course more than an economic asset. It is home to tight-knit communities who are proud of their city, but justifiably, have some concerns about its future. Success has clearly come with costs; expensive housing, traffic jams and air pollution are daily concerns for many residents and risk deterring those who want to live, work and study in the city. Cambridge is also one of the most unequal places in the UK, a sign that the benefits of its economic success have not been shared by all.”

It warns: “There remain significant barriers to realising the area’s full potential. The Deputy Prime Minister and I are determined to help remove them and overcome the issues that have held up planned development for essential housing and laboratory space.”

And the minister expresses his hope for “an early in-person discussion” to “reset the work and the relationship between central government and local partners”.

Cambridge City Council Labour leader, Cllr Mike Davey welcomed the letter. He said: “We will be sitting down with a much more collaborative approach with central government to work out what sustainable growth for this city actually means. And the letter from Matthew Pennycook indicates the desire to do that. And it’s welcome.”

He added he would be keen to discuss the new housebuilding figures and what they would mean in terms of the Local Plan.

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lib Dem leader Bridget Smith said: “We absolutely welcome the minister’s call for a reset in relations between central government and local government in Greater Cambridge.

“We share his ambition for high-quality sustainable growth and the recent collaborative work on water scarcity shows the value of listening to local councils and residents in achieving that.

“Under Michael Gove’s watch, local communities risked being sidelined in discussions on their future with their locally-elected representatives locked out of decision making. The potential for success in Greater Cambridge is truly vast and we’re eager to work with government to bring in the investments and infrastructure that our communities need to thrive. I look forward to meeting with the minister to set out how we can make sure future growth best delivers for our residents.”

The Environment Agency has objected to large-scale developments in the Cambridge region due to an over-reliance on the chalk aquifer for the area’s water supply. A new reservoir in the Fens to ease the problem is not due to be completed until 2036, creating a ‘water gap’.

The agency has advised that some water bodies in the Cambridge area are at risk of deterioration and that any new development that takes place must not increase abstraction and risk deterioration to water bodies in Greater Cambridge.

However, the government published its ‘Addressing water scarcity in Greater Cambridge’ plan earlier this year, introducing a scheme in which developers in Cambridge will be required to buy and sell ‘water credits’ for new homes to unlock potential for thousands more homes to be built.

But this plan, which involves retrofitting water saving devices in homes could be “doomed to fail” according to the charity Cambridge Past, Present and Future, because the number of homes that would need to be retrofitted with water-saving devices to make the credit system viable could not be achieved in the timescales required.