Planning Consents and Build Out Rates Report

Greater Cambridge bucks national trend as it closes gap between housing consents and builds

There is a significant national lag between the number of homes getting planning approval and the number of homes being built – but the Greater Cambridge area (Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire) is bucking the trend.

The findings from Cambridge Ahead and property experts Savills illustrate the challenge of the Government’s target of building 300,000 homes annually – and show what factors are needed to succeed.

Before Christmas, the Housing Secretary Steve Reed pledged to ‘go further than ever before’ to hit 1.5 million homes.

The new report, using novel data analysis to uncover new insights, offers cause for optimism: in the Greater Cambridge area the gap between planning approvals and homes being built is less than half the national average.

According to Cambridge Ahead’s CEO Dan Thorp, there is much that Government can draw from the Cambridge model.

The success in turning consents and into developments shows how strong economic demand, progressive and ambitious local policy, and engaged developers come together in a locality to make Government ambitions a reality.

The findings also demonstrate that targeted support to places like Cambridge – where the creation of new jobs translates quickly into housing delivery – moves the dial when it comes to sustainable growth.

The findings are the latest research from Cambridge Ahead, a voice for the Cambridge economy dedicated to good growth that improves quality of life.

The headlines from the report, which analyses recent housing delivery and planning data across the Greater Cambridge area published today are:

  • Over the last ten years to March 2025 the gap between planning consents and build completions has been 11% in Greater Cambridge. This is significantly smaller than the 24% national average lag.
  • Over 2,500 new homes were added in Greater Cambridge in the year to September 2025, nearly a 2% increase in housing stock and well above the Local Plan target rate.
    • NB: Around half of these completion numbers were large developments in Eddington, Darwin Green (combined, these contributed c.30%), Marleigh Park, and ongoing development in Cambourne (largely Taylor Wimpey alongside other developers). The remaining half is more thinly spread across Greater Cambridge from a variety of small and medium sites.
  • Additional analysis finds that if Greater Cambridge were a local authority, it would be in the top 5% across England for expansion of housing stock and be twice the England average over the period. (South Cambridgeshire itself is #3)
  • Greater Cambridge has also managed to deliver much higher rates of affordable housing through developer contributions than the national average (affordable housing being provided by Section 106 in Greater Cambridge was 68%, compared to c.50% nationally). Over 5,000 affordable homes were delivered in Greater Cambridge over the last decade, with at least 500 delivered each year.
  • Planning consent was granted for nearly 4,600 homes in Greater Cambridge between June and September 2025. This was overwhelmingly made up of 4,000 homes that had previously received outline permission being granted full consent at Northstowe Phase 3A. A further 198 homes were also given full consent at Waterbeach Barracks.

 

Dan Thorp, CEO of Cambridge Ahead, said:

 “There’s good news for the Housing Secretary in Cambridge as planning permissions are quickly turning into spades in the ground.

 “Innovation-driven growth in the city region is creating jobs and driving demand for housing, which combined with the right planning conditions, gives housebuilders the confidence to build. The positive figures from Cambridge show that economic growth and housebuilding go hand-in-hand in a localised way and perhaps provide a signpost on the route to 1.5m new homes nationally.”