Plans to demolish two ageing council estates in Cambridge and replace them with nearly 300 new homes are progressing through the planning system, with the first scheme due before councillors next week.
The proposals, brought forward by Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP), are a joint venture between Cambridge City Council and developer The Hill Group. This partnership would see Hanover Court and Princess Court off Hills Road, and the Ekin Road estate in Abbey rebuilt from the ground up. Together, the two sites currently house 235 homes; for a city as squeezed by housing demand as Cambridge, under the new plans, that number would rise to 299.
The Why behind the demolition
Hanover Court & Princess Court, with 127 existing homes, have presented structural concerns, fire-safety constraints, and broader building-performance issues. Council says that the existing blocks are no longer suitable for council tenants to live in, which means both estates have fallen into disrepair to the point that refurbishment is no longer viable.
Ekin Road, with 108 existing homes, built in the 1950s and 190s, suffers from a different but related set of problems as the council assesses that the estate carries maintenance and structural issues which can contribute to issues such as damp, condensation, and mould – defects common to homes from an era when speed and scale were prioritised rather than building high-quality homes for a 70-plus year lifespan.
Therefore, in both cases, the council concluded that redevelopment, rather than repair, is the only viable route forward.
More homes, but fewer council homes
Despite the overall increase in homes across the two sites, the number of council homes will fall significantly. Hanover Court and Princess Court will see council homes drop from 82 to 72, while Ekin Road will go from 91 to 78, a combined reduction of 23 council homes, resulting in an overall supply gap.
The council says this reflects a deliberate trade-off: prioritising larger family homes over a higher count of smaller ones, in response to overcrowding and high demand for bigger properties. Ekin Road’s new development will include the partnership’s first five-bedroom council homes, along with four homes designed for wheelchair users.
Independent viability assessments concluded that the cost of redeveloping both sites meant there should be no requirement to build any council homes at all, well below the 40% typically required under planning policy. Despite this, the council intends to pursue funding from Homes England to deliver the majority of the council homes proposed across both schemes.
I want to reassure people that we remain committed to doing everything we can to secure funding for the 72 council homes we want to build at Hanover Court and Princess Court, and the 78 we want to build at Ekin Road. — Cllr Gerri Bird, Cabinet Member for Housing, uk/local/cambridge-city-council/">Cambridge City Council.
What happens to residents
Most tenants have already moved out of both estates ahead of demolition. The council says departing council tenants are offered priority access to a like-for-like home elsewhere, including newly built council housing alongside practical moving support, a home-loss payment of roughly £8,000, and a further £1,250 to cover moving costs.
Homeowners affected by the redevelopment are offered the market value of their property, based on a RICS valuation, plus statutory compensation of between 7.5% and 10%, along with help covering costs such as legal fees and Stamp Duty Land Tax.
Everyone deserves to live in homes that meet modern standards — with spacious living areas that are well ventilated and comfortable to live in, with high energy efficiency to bring down spiralling energy costs. — Cllr Gerri Bird
A vision of a wider building drive
The proposals sit within a much larger council ambition. Cllr Bird said the council had built more than 1,150 new homes, over 850 of them being council homes, across 24 sites in Cambridge, and has ranked among the ten most prolific council house-builders per capita in England in two of the last three years. The council targets to deliver 1,000 more council homes and 1,000 private sale homes by 2030.
Tom Hill, Managing Director at The Hill Group, described the progress as the product of sustained collaboration.
“Redevelopment decisions of this nature are never straightforward, particularly on sites with a long history in the community,”
he said, adding that the partnership’s focus had been on
“delivering high quality new homes to meet modern standards and serve future generations.”
