Business Pair Reveal Plans for Affordable New City Near Cambridge

Posted by UK Property Forums on 4th November 2025 -

Bold new proposals have been unveiled aiming to deliver Britain’s first new city in more than half a century in the east of Cambridge. 

The Forest City concept, imagined by Shiv Malik and Joseph Reeve, envisions a 45,000-acre development that combines affordable housing, sustainability and modern infrastructure. It proposes 400,000 homes arranged within a ‘gentle density’ design inspired by Paris and Barcelona, alongside 12,000 acres of new woodland. The footprint would equal that of Bristol.

The developers propose that Forest City would achieve an affordable price of £350,000 per home due to an irregular ownership structure. Instead of private land speculation, the project would use a Community Land Trust. Residents would own their homes but not the ground beneath, theoretically shielding future generations from runaway housing prices.

In their proposal the pair state: “Britain can still build extraordinary things that inspire the world”.

Features of Forest City include solar power, modular wood construction, 6G connectivity and small modular reactors.

The proposed new city carries an estimated £55 billion boost to GDP within 20 years, rivalling regional powerhouses like Cambridge and Oxford. Although, it remains unclear how accurate this estimate could be.

Furthermore, the project is as much political as it is physical. It seeks to unite left-wing ideals of social ownership with right-wing ambitions for deregulation and enterprise. For the left, it delivers affordable homes and community control. For the right, it promises growth, low taxes and regulatory freedom.

If approved, the Forest City would unfold in four phases: a foundation period establishing its development corporation; detailed planning and coalition building; legislative approval and large-scale construction using modular systems for speed and efficiency.

Messrs Malik and Reeve point to OECD research which indicates the UK is the ‘only major developed economy to have more built-up land on a per capita basis in the past than in the present’.

Visit: https://www.forestcity.uk/