An equal partnership between Cambridge City Council and The Hill Group

About us

Cambridge Investment Partnership is an equal partnership between Cambridge City Council and The Hill Group.

Established in 2017, the partnership was created to support the Council in tackling the city’s housing affordability crisis by delivering high-quality new council homes and market-sale homes – both of which are in high demand – and associated commercial and community facilities. As part of the £70 million Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Devolution Grant, CIP committed to starting construction on 500 new council homes by March 2022. This ambitious target was met a year ahead of schedule, and in 2025, CIP completed its 1,000th new home.

CIP remains dedicated to improving the quality of housing for residents living in ageing council properties, building additional council homes to meet growing local demand, and addressing broader housing supply challenges, such as the need for large council homes for families.

All new homes developed through CIP meet or exceed national space standards, with many built to Passivhaus or the council’s CamStandard equivalent.

Having delivered over 1,000 homes across 23 developments, the partnership now aims to deliver a further 1,000 council homes and 1,000 market-sale homes by 2030, continuing its mission to provide high-quality, energy efficient homes with lower energy bills for the people of Cambridge.

 

Our successes

The Partnership

Our partnership is based on shared aims and collaboration.

Our success is down to collaboration, using our combined, complementary skills to work together closely as a team on the day-to-day delivery of the programme.

The council brings strong strategic and political links through its various local authority and partnership relationships. On a local level, the council’s significant public sector-led housing delivery knowledge and experience help identify the needs of the local community and prioritise the delivery of sites.

Hill Investment Partnerships brings investment, commercial and financial expertise together with its knowledge, skills, and experience in development and extensive market relationships.

Through the partnership, we are committed to driving forward new housing, creating highly sustainable homes that are fit for the future and taking a key role in the regeneration of the city for years to come.

“Together, we’re delivering more council homes than almost any other council. We’re also building much-needed market-sale homes, the profit of which is essential to help fund our work to build more council homes and community facilities."

Cllr Gerri Bird, Executive Councillor for Housing at Cambridge City Council

The story of the Cambridge Investment Partnership

Our Vision

  • Invest in the development of land to create successful new places that meet both financial and social objectives.
  • Improve the use of council assets and those of other public sector bodies in Cambridge to meet the identified housing need across the city.
  • Optimise financial return through enhanced asset value.
  • Deliver high quality sustainable new homes which are designed for the future and meet or exceed local sustainability policies
Vision graphic

Sustainability

The environmental impact of new buildings and the inefficiencies of older buildings are an essential part of our development programme, and we are committed to contributing to the council’s climate change objectives.

All our homes offer a high level of sustainability and are built in accordance with the Cambridge Sustainable Housing Design Guide. Our new developments are now gas-free, ahead of the Government’s targets, and built to Passivhaus or the council’s CamStandard equivalent.

Art

An extensive programme of public art forms part of our programme of new housing. The public art projects across a number of our developments have been delivered by Resonance Cambridge and sees the delivery of events engaging with the existing community, together with artwork being installed in the new public open spaces within our new developments.

Find out more about our public art programme and our artists:

Resonance Cambridge

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