Funding for 45 affordable homes approved

Funding of more than £1.6 million for 45 new affordable homes in Bretton Court has been approved.

The money was committed on Monday by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority which overall is spending £6.8 million to help deliver 178 affordable rent and shared ownership homes in Peterborough, Ramsey and March.

Medesham Homes - a joint housing venture between Peterborough City Council and housing association Cross Keys Homes - applied for the funds to convert units that were originally intended to be market units into affordable rent.

An earlier application by Medesham to convert the former offices into 43 homes was rejected by the council’s planning committee due to a lack of parking spaces.

However, last year Medesham said it was buying additional commercial units to try and alleviate that concern.

The housing and communities committee on Monday did not approve the scheme unanimously, with deputy leader of Cambridge City Council Cllr Mike Sergeant voting against, and the leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council Cllr Bridget Smith abstaining, both raising concerns over the quality of the homes.

Cllr Sergeant said: “I think we need to say to people we are building high quality homes, not just converting office blocks because that gets the numbers.” Cllr Smith said: “This is substandard housing. There are two arguments: it reduces the amount of office space and puts people in housing that was never intended to be housing,”

Combined authority director of housing and development, Roger Thompson, said the flats would be built to housing regulations and that office blocks can be converted “as compared to a new-build, at relative speed”.

He added: “In the nicest possible way, if you go and look at this building it is not fit for purpose. It’s heavily dilapidated, it has asbestos in it. The works proposed would strip this out and bring the building into a modern use.”

Housing programme manager Azma Ahmad-Pearce said: “I would expect superb standards throughout.”