Call for nearly £210m to build more council homes

Cambridge City Council said high interest rates and building costs were proving a challenge

A council is considering asking the government for more than £200m so it can build more homes.

Cambridge City Council said in a report on new-build council homes that the money would help to "accelerate a pipeline" of more than 2,200 properties.

The authority said it was facing the challenges of "high interest rates and increased build costs".

Councillors are set to debate the plans at a housing scrutiny meeting next week.

The authority agreed a 10-year new homes programme in 2020 with the aim of building 1,000 council homes and 1,000 "market homes" by 2030.

So far there are 516 council homes in the works, with 259 handed over or under way and 257 waiting for planning approval.

However, the report said changes were needed in order to keep building council homes in the city.

"In the current economic climate of continued high interest rates and increased build costs, the council alone is unable to finance this level of housing development in a financially sustainable way," it said.

Gerri Bird, the executive councillor for housing, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the council was "making good progress".