The University of Cambridge has pledged to invest in affordable housing in the city and wants to start “as soon as it can.”

Professor Jeremy Sanders, pro-vice-chancellor for institutional affairs, made the comment during the inaugural public meeting of the City Deal’s executive board.

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, has said of the overall project that the University eagerly anticipates the partnership.

He said that the University had a desire to “transform our ability to innovate and sustain economic growth while protecting the features that make Greater Cambridge such an attractive place to work, study and live.”

The university is working in collaboration with Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridge County Council, and the Greater Cambridge Peterborough Enterprise Partnership to tackle the lack of affordable housing and transport infrastructure in the area.

This is an implementation of the City Deal brokered with the government in 2012, which aims to invest up to £1 billion in Cambridge over the coming decade.

The first government grant of £100 million will be handed to the city in 2016.

Additional funding is expected to come from ‘GainShare’, a scheme whereby the local area keeps a share of the additional tax income that will be generated as a result of future growth, as well as from direct contributions from private investors such as the university.

Grahame Nix, Chief Executive of the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership, has said that the City Deal is imperative “to continue the Cambridge Phenomenon into the future.”

Currently there are over 4000 people on the City Council’s housing waiting list, whilst the number of council houses is estimated to have fallen over the past year, now standing at an estimated 7,321.

The proposed deal will enable the acceleration of the delivery of 33,480 houses by 2031, with an additional 1000 specifically designated affordable homes, on sites on the perimeters of existing rural villages.

The move was also backed in parliament last Tuesday. In an exchange in the House of Commons, Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge, said that the funding that had been granted by the government “would make a huge difference for transport and housing needs.”

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister, responded by saying “it is a good thing that there is now such ambition to build on that City Deal and go further.”

The ultimate aim is to continue and enhance the unique economic growth that the city of Cambridge currently provides.

Cambridge’s real estate value has sky-rocketed within the past seven years, with properties now worth 32.5 per cent more than at their 2007 peak. The findings, as published in analysis by the property firm Hometrack, places Cambridge above London in terms of rising house prices.

London house prices have only increased by 29 per cent in recent years, compared to their pre-financial crisis high.