Affordable homes still an issue in housebuilding hotspot

Huntingdonshire is known as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell, famed for overthrowing King Charles I in the 17th Century.

But the area, between Peterborough and Cambridge, is now hoping to gain a new identity as a place of growth for homes and in the defence sector.

It has already seen a faster rate of housebuilding than the national average, but recent analysis shows it still needs more than 1,200 homes per year to keep up with demand as its population is set to rise by about 55,000 – nearly 30% – by 2046.

However, it is not just the number of homes, but the number of affordable homes that is a "pressing issue" for the area, according to a recent district council study.

With local district council elections on the horizon, the BBC spoke to residents and looked at the housing issues affecting the area.

"The only reason that we were able to buy anything was because of some money that we got from family," says Claire, a mum speaking at the Happy Mama Hub in Brampton, near Huntingdon.

"We wouldn't have been able to even dream about getting on the property ladder before that, and we have moved to an area that maybe we wouldn't have necessarily chosen, just because there was a really nice, affordable flat and we wanted somewhere to bring our family up."

Giusepa, another parent at the group, acknowledges the growth of the area is "inevitable", but the infrastructure, such as schools and recreation areas, needs to come with it, citing a local lack of doctors' appointments.

Phillip Malley, an estate agent in nearby Godmanchester for more than 30 years, says house prices in the area have risen "quite dramatically".

"Certainly post-Covid... I was dealing with an awful lot of people from London or Hertfordshire who were migrating north because of the lack of necessity to commute daily," he says.

"So house prices have probably outstripped growth in terms of people's pay."

One of the biggest ongoing developments in Huntingdonshire is at Alconbury Weald, where 6,500 new homes are to be built.

There will also be three primary schools, a special educational needs school, a secondary school and employment space for about 8,000 jobs.

But all that infrastructure has come at a cost, limiting the affordable housing proportions.

Rebecca Britton, a director at master developer Urban and Civic, says: "One of the reasons we believe very passionately about these big strategic sites is that, the numbers are big and the housing numbers always seem quite scary, but actually it is about delivering the infrastructure alongside those homes, so you do get that in a way that you don't always if you just build homes at the edge of an existing town.

"The downside is that often for a site like this, you will then get lower levels of affordable housing."

She says that due to the number of schools, transport, investment, and infrastructure, there were fewer affordable homes in the first instance.

"So our affordable housing mix does ensure we've got shared ownership homes, social rented, rent-to-buy and all those other options, but they are at a slightly lower level in the first stages of Alconbury Weald, and then it's reviewed ongoing to make sure we get more delivered as more homes come forward."

It is not just housing growth planned for the area, and there are proposals for what is being termed the North Hunts Growth Cluster, aiming to make the area a centre for defence, capitalising on nearby RAF Wyton.

One of the companies involved is Huntingdon-based Paragraf, which manufactures electronic devices using the energy-efficient product graphene for industries including the automotive and healthcare sectors.

Relocating from Cambridge University, it moved for more space to accommodate its 100 or so employees and continue to expand.

Chief operating officer Tony Pearce says: "To build a facility such as this here in Huntingdon, we need a number of things, not least the venture capital and the investment to get us off the ground, but also local skilled employees and the support of government, be that national and locally.

"The idea of a cluster which brings in like-minded industry – companies that have the same advanced manufacturing needs as us – will help with continuing that support."

The local elections in May will decide who is in charge of making planning decisions in Huntingdonshire.

While the Conservatives are the largest group on the district council, it is currently controlled by a Liberal Democrat-led rainbow coalition.

Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament.

Local Liberal Democrats say they "plan to meet the government's housing targets for our area, or else face substandard development being forced on our area".

The Conservatives say the "building target numbers are excessive and punishing our residents", adding that only their local group challenged the new numbers set by the government.

The Green Party says the government "hasn't done enough to tackle unscrupulous landlords".

Reform UK says it wants to "make sure developers, not council taxpayers, fund what's needed" in terms of infrastructure.

The council also currently has 13 independent councillors.

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