A couple who own a parcel of land at Guyhirn given approval five years ago for nine homes say they can no longer afford to deliver four of them to help solve Fenland’s housing crisis.

Matthew and Joyce Wright agreed with Fenland Council that four of the nine homes planned for land North West of Green Acres on Gull Road would be for affordable housing.

But now their agent, Maxey Grounds & Co, says that option is no longer viable and they want to change it.

“The development not viable on the basis of the current requirement,” say the agents.

Maxey Grounds say they have submitted a “viability assessment” to Fenland District Council but the report has been marked ‘confidential’ and is not available on the website.

Through his agent Mr and Mrs Wright are proposing that the obligation to provide four affordable homes is replaced with a one-off payment to Fenland Council of £120,000.

None of the information provided by Maxey Grounds to the council – including a draft agreement – has been published on the council’s website.

Four years an application to reduce the affordable housing provision on the site from four homes to one – plus a cash payment – was refused.