Last week we spoke to Siobhan Middleton from CambridgeshireLive after a visit to Cambridge from Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. During his visit Gove promoted plans he had previously announced in July 2023 to develop Cambridge as ‘Europe’s science capital’. The project, ‘Cambridge 2040’, is part of Government plans to address housing shortages.

In his speech announcing the Cambridge 2040 plan, Gove stated that Cambridge is an increasingly unaffordable as a place to live. The government-backed initiative aims to introduce up to 250,000 new homes, along with business parks and science hubs. Gove went on to say that plans were to ensure that developments prioritise “a high proportion of affordable homes and other properties set aside for key workers and young academics”.

Speaking to Cambridge News, Allotment Project Co-Ordinator, Ruth Wood, said “The feedback I get from service users is that they are just really, really frustrated and angry. People who have been brought up in Cambridge or the surrounding villages are once again being overlooked”.

James Martin, Director of Cambridge Cyrenians, also voiced concerns over the lack of focus on local residents in the Cambridge 2040 rhetoric. Emphasizing the need for affordable housing for those working in low-wage roles in vital sectors such as retail and social care, James called for transparency regarding the number of affordable homes and whether they would be provided through private landlords or as social housing.

“We need to see more detail: how many homes are going to be affordable? How many will be affordable rent and how many will be social rent? It would be a crying shame if all the money went to property developers. Will it just push house prices up more and push people further out? In that case, we will just have small pockets of social houses”.

A surge in development without a clear affordable housing strategy could exacerbate the city’s current housing crisis, providing accommodation for university and technology workers while making it increasingly difficult for locals to remain in the city.