The Cambridge Growth Company (CGC) was established by government in 2024 to address barriers to growth and help unlock Greater Cambridge's full potential.
A subsidiary of Homes England, the government's housing and regeneration agency, the CGC works to unlock and accelerate development and deliver the homes, jobs and infrastructure needed for long-term, sustainable growth.
Peter Freeman is the Chair of the Cambridge Growth Company. He has a track record in delivering large scale development and regeneration projects, as well as being the outgoing Chair of Homes England. He was appointed on 30 October 2024 by the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook.
You can read more about Peter’s appointment here: Appointment of Cambridge Growth Company Chair - GOV.UK
Greater Cambridge is one of the UK’s greatest success stories. But success has also brought challenges. Housing affordability, transport congestion, water scarcity and environmental pressures risk holding back sustainable growth.
The Cambridge Growth Company has been established to address these issues and help the area realise its full potential.
Working alongside partners, we are advancing near-term priorities to accelerate and unblock key development opportunities already identified.
This includes:
- Working with Homes England, government departments, local partners and the Cambridge Water Scarcity Group, we have helped unlock planning applications for over 9,000 new homes and 528,000 sqm of commercial space.
- Coordinating investment and enabling infrastructure to accelerate progress on key stalled sites, including:
- £3 million to support a new model of emergency care and preparatory work for a future acute hospital at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
- £23 million in recoverable funding (via Homes England) for the relocation of Waterbeach Station. £7.2 million to advance the Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) project.
Alongside near-term delivery, the CGC has commissioned Buro Happold and Prior + Partners to develop the evidence base for a long-term strategy for housing, employment space and infrastructure across Greater Cambridge.
This will look beyond standard planning timeframes, setting out a vision for how Greater Cambridge can continue to grow sustainably, building on the priorities in the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan and the forthcoming Mayoral Spatial Development Strategy.
On 28 January 2025, the Chancellor unveiled new plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, which has the potential to boost the UK economy by up to £78 billion by 2035.
The Growth Company’s work across Greater Cambridge is one component of the government’s strategy to pursue growth across the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor.
The Cambridge Growth Company is working with the government, including Lord Vallance in his role as the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor Champion and Science minister, to coordinate the delivery of sustainable growth across the region.
The government announced £10 million at Autumn Budget 2024 to enable the Cambridge Growth Company to develop an ambitious plan for housing, transport, wider infrastructure, and for the water needed to support sustainable growth.
In October 2025, government announced a further £400 million commitment to support the work of CGC and a future delivery vehicle.
Alongside this core funding, CGC is also working with partners to attract additional investment to unlock local projects and accelerate delivery across Greater Cambridge.
The CGC is committed to ensuring local voices and priorities are reflected in our work.
We set up an Advisory Council in February 2025, bringing together local leaders and independent experts to provide insight, challenge, and guidance - helping to ensure that local priorities and ambitions inform CGC’s decisions and activities. The list of local representatives who sit on the Council can be found here, and minutes of previous meetings found here.
Local residents will also have the opportunity to share their views through the government's statutory public consultation on proposals for a centrally led development corporation. The government will publish further information on the consultation in due course.
Beyond this, there will be further opportunities for engagement and consultation as CGC's longer-term work develops.
In October 2025, government announced its intention to consult on the case for a centrally led development corporation as one possible delivery route.
No decisions have been made. This will be the subject of a statutory public consultation, offering local partners, residents and businesses the opportunity to help shape what this could look like. The government will publish further information on the consultation in due course.
