Council homes to be built after ethics concerns
Tom Jackson/BBCThe replacement for a city centre council estate due to be demolished will include social housing after government funding was confirmed.
Hanover Court and Princess Court, off Hills Road in Cambridge - said by developers to be in poor condition, too small and unable to meet fire safety standards - will be knocked down.
When planning approval was given, there was no guarantee council homes would be built - raising questions about the "ethics" - but Cambridge City Council has received funding from Homes England to build 72 council homes as part of the 165-flat development.
Ben Binns, assistant director of development at the council, said the authority was "delighted" with the funding.
It is part of a £96.4m grant for social and affordable housing given to Cambridge City Council as part of a "strategic partnership", which will ultimately form part of a programme for 1,400 council homes by 2036.
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In July, there were more than 2,200 families on the council's housing waiting list and Binns admitted the money was "not enough".
"It's possible the waiting list may continue to grow," he said. "Cambridge is a growing city.
"What we hope though now we've got this strategic partnership, is that there will be further tranches of funding that we can go back [to] and get more funding to build more council homes."
Binns said the council was also looking at using the current funding towards developments at Ekin Road, Arbury Court, Stanton House and Kingsway.
He said the development was a "very complicated site in terms of demolition", and hoped work could start next year, before people were able to start moving in after a two or three-year build.
The Cambridge Investment Partnership, a venture between Cambridge City Council and developers The Hill Group, will complete the scheme.
The redevelopment will see a total of 127 flats knocked down, including 82 council homes with 72 larger council flats then rebuilt, according to the developers.
Harmony Birch, a former Princess Court resident, said she felt "much better" now the funding for council homes on the site had been confirmed.
"But I'm still disappointed at the way this whole process has been done, and particularly at the amount of uncertainty this left for people who had been guaranteed a right of return.
"If you're guaranteed a right to return and then told there will be no council houses on the site, your right to return is gone, it doesn't exist anymore."
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