Cornwall homeless to be housed in holiday parks

Some families were being evicted from their homes as landlords decided to sell up or turn them into holiday homes the Cabinet heard

Councillors have agreed to buy two holiday parks for the homeless in an attempt to increase temporary accommodation.

Cornwall Council said the unnamed parks in the Hayle and Helston area would be for single people and families.

It was part of a £15m package of measures agreed by the council's Cabinet Committee.

Councillor Olly Monk said housing was "the greatest priority facing this council".

Providing temporary accommodation was a particular problem, amid a shortage of housing to buy or rent, he said.

Some families had been evicted from their homes as landlords decided to sell up or turn them into holiday homes, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillor Olly Monk said homelessness had been made worse by a lack of housing available to buy or rent

The Hayle site would provide accommodation for 19 households including single people and small families and the Helston site would house nine families.

Mr Monk said that the local authority was facing a £5.9m loss in housing benefit and "without significant capital intervention that cost will rise even further".

"We find ourselves in a very difficult situation and one that Cabinet cannot allow to continue," he said.

Councillors were told that money earmarked for affordable housing would not be lost

Some councillors raised concerns about the plans for the council to use money which had been earmarked to provide affordable housing through the Community Land Trust.

Mr Monk said: "Those pots of money have been sat there for a while and they will be available in the future should the Community Land Trust need them."

The Cabinet agreed to go ahead with buying the properties, although the full details were in a confidential report which was considered in a private session.