Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal signed off

Cambridge City Council signed off on the deal this week, the last of the seven councils in the new combined authority to give its approval. The deal will see 500 new council homes built in Cambridge.

The fund is made up of ?70m over five years to build the council homes. The council will use ?10m of this fund to replace any of the 500 homes that are sold through the Right to Buy scheme.

The remaining ?100m will make up an affordable housing fund over five years to deliver affordable homes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. These will be a mix of tenures including affordable rented and low-cost homeownership and are likely to be delivered by housing associations.

Lewis Herbert, leader of Cambridge City Council, said: ?Devolution will bring real benefits for Cambridge residents and the most important of these is funding for affordable housing for rent.

?We now have a real opportunity to work together to press for more devolution from the government so that decisions can be made locally to provide even more housing and investment in our highly successful Greater Cambridge economy.?

The councils will hold elections for a mayor to chair the combined authority in May next year.