Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission

1. In view of the clear need to prioritise dwellings over short stay accommodation, the social housing allocations applicable to domestic dwellings should now be applied to all overnight accommodation (except perhaps student accommodation linked to the two Universities) to ensure that there is not a commercial bias created towards the further development of hotels and apartotels.
2. Residential areas should be ring fenced and designated as solely for residential occupation to protect the stock of dwellings for residents of Cambridge and ensure the quality of the lived lives of residents.

We believe that the plan is not doing enough to protect existing dwellings from conversion to short stay accommodation.

We provided evidence to support our case in the earlier consultation and will be pleased to provide updated evidence.

Following the success of previous policies to encourage hotel and aparthotel development above the high need estimates of the previous evidence base and the extensive and uncontrolled expansion of other shortstay accommodation, and a reduction of visitor room nights from 1,067,000 in 2017 to 787,000 in 2023 (i.e. a 26% reduction), there is now an imbalance that does not support the continued protection of this use. Plan policies that protect hotel and apartotel accommodation from conversion to other uses should be removed.

To remove the commercial bias and incentive to build short term accommodation rather than much needed dwellings for residents of Cambridge, the Social Housing allocations applied to housing development should be applied also to hotels and aparthotels (except perhaps hostel accommodation linked to the two Universities)

We believe that the Plan has not recognised the changing supply/demand dynamics of the overnight short stay accommodation market in Cambridge specifically and therefore still favours and protects the use of land and buildings for this use whereas the more pressing demand in Cambridge is for dwellings for Cambridge residents.