Around 500 new homes on two sites are being built in Cambridge in a partnership between the council and property developer, the Hill Group. Around 240 of the homes at the Timberworks and Ironworks are council homes, with the remainder up for private sale. The Cambridge Investment Partnership says it prioritised local people when selling the homes – but it has been marketing the properties overseas.
The partnership claims that sales “came to a standstill” as a result of Covid and it then took the decision to market the private homes overseas. Two marketing events took place in Hong Kong before Autumn 2021, although the partnership says that no events have taken place since that time.
Residents and local associations have expressed their outrage at the perceived greed shown by Cambridge City Council in marketing the properties to property investors, which could potentially increase prices and be of no benefit to local residents. A one-bedroom apartment at the Timberworks site is currently being marketed at over £350,000 and two bedroom apartments are over £450,000.
The partnership said that interest from overseas was limited to one property per person and that due diligence was being carried out. Despite this, councillor and member of the partnership, Mike Davey, said that some of the marketing material was worded to attract investors and that the council had “learnt a lesson” regarding the use of agencies when selling the properties. The council’s leader, Tim Bick, agreed that the events appeared to be “marketed to property investors”.
Wendy Blythe of the Federation of Cambridge Residents’ Associations said she “felt really shocked and I think a lot of residents were shocked” when the marketing campaign was discovered. She said that, instead of trying to attract investment from overseas, the properties should have been made available at a reduced price so that local people could afford them.