People are being asked where affordable homes should be built in Cornwall to help ease the pressure on the housing crisis.

Cornwall Council is working with towns and parishes across Cornwall to help identify potential sites.     

Olly Monk, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for housing and planning, said: “We know that there is a huge shortage of affordable housing for people in Cornwall and we are determined to do everything we can to address that need.

“One of the most difficult challenges is finding suitable sites to build the homes on.  We are working proactively with some town and parish councils who have tackled this issue head-on, and we are looking for similar dynamic councils to step up and take similar action.

“We want to work with them to jointly identify potential land in their areas, and then engage with local communities to enable sites to be brought forward for affordable homes.  

“Our affordable housing team covers the whole of the Duchy, with dedicated officers for each parish. They are already working closely with registered providers, our in-house ‘Council housing’ Delivery Team, and other partners to provide affordable housing schemes. 

“We want to build on this strong foundation to help more towns and parishes develop and deliver their own affordable housing schemes, enabling their residents to remain in their local area.”   

With 213 towns and parishes across Cornwall, the team carried out an initial assessment of the number of people in housing need in each area, the affordable housing provided in recent years, and the number of affordable homes currently available, to identify parishes with the most urgent housing need.   

The affordable housing team is in contact with the first tranche of parishes to offer support but is also keen to hear from other areas that are interested in finding out more.  

“We are already working with communities including Bude-Stratton, Looe, St Just-in-Penwith, Penzance and Maker-with-Rame,” said Sarah Roberts, the council’s principal rural housing enabler. 

“Some of these discussions are at a very early stage but we have had positive responses and would like to hear from any other town or parish who would like to find out more.”  

While the process will vary according to the needs of each individual parish, the council is using a step-by-step approach, which includes: 

• Providing parish-specific background housing information, general affordable housing information and an assessment of their specific housing needs. This may recommend undertaking an additional, more in-depth, housing needs survey.  

• Working with the parish to identify potential land that could be developed, considering constraints, opportunities, and land ownership.  

• Giving advice on potential options for managing a scheme, i.e., working with Cornwall Council’s housing service, a registered housing provider, or by setting up a community land trust  

• Assisting with developing a scheme, including accessing funding and carrying out public consultation, through to the planning process and delivering the affordable housing. 

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Mr Monk added: “While the focus of this exercise is on identifying sites for delivering affordable housing, we are also looking for additional sites to expand our modular, temporary accommodation schemes for people and families that find themselves homeless.

“Earlier this year we secured planning permission for our first 15 SoloHaus micro homes on council-owned land at Old County Hall in Truro, with the tenants expected to move into their new homes by the end of this year.

“Planning applications have also been submitted for further SoloHaus schemes in Penryn, Penzance and Newquay.  This is in addition to ten modular units being built at Cowlins Mill, Pool.

“Our first modular housing schemes have been designed to provide accommodation for single people, however, we are now out to tender for an additional package of modular temporary accommodation specifically designed for families, and another exercise will get underway shortly for accommodation for couples.”