Council-owned developer faces potential £7.7m loan shortfall

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 31 Oct, 08:16 · Archive

This Land, owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, could face a shortfall of £7.7m against loan obligations by March 2029.

This Land, owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, could face a cash shortfall of as much as £7.7m in March 2029 against its loan obligations. The company currently owes the council £58m and a further £22.5m in interest. A report said the company may not be able to repay the loans and interest under current forecasts.

Michael Hudson, the council's executive director of finance, told a shareholder sub-committee meeting that this was not an 'immediate insolvency event'. He said 'national market factors' were increasing risks of cash shortages for housing developers and other businesses 'as the economic squeeze hits harder and harder'.

Set up by the county council in 2016 to build homes and sell land to developers across Cambridgeshire, This Land expects losses of around £2.7m by the end of the 2026/27 financial year, some £400,000 worse than planned. The shortfall is partly driven by delayed sales at Eddeva Park, a development approved in 2021 just south of Cambridge with up to 230 homes, 40 per cent marked as affordable.

Rob Williams, chief executive of This Land, said 'sales are taking a bit longer at the moment' and 'things are slow' in both house building and the wider economy. He added that the planning system was 'getting slower if anything'.

How it is being reported

• Council-owned developer may not be able to pay back loansThis Land, which is owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, could face a shortfall of as much as £7.7m in March 2029, against its loan obligations.Cambs Times · 31 Oct, 07:50
• Council-owned developer may not be able to pay back loansThis Land, which is owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, could face a shortfall of as much as £7.7m in March 2029, against its loan obligations.Ely Standard · 31 Oct, 07:50

In this story: This Land · Cambridgeshire County Council · Cambridgeshire · Cambridge · Michael Hudson · Rob Williams

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