Constantine affordable housing approved despite objections

The plans for 25 new affordable homes were met with strong objection from the parish council

An affordable housing development in Cornwall has been approved despite the local parish council claiming housing needs had been "artificially inflated" by an online housing register.

Coastline Housing applied for permission to build 25 homes in Constantine, near Falmouth.

Constantine Parish Council said the village could not support more homes.

Developers said there was a real need for affordable homes and they were trying to help local people.

Planning officers had recommended that the plans should be approved by Cornwall Council, saying they considered the development was appropriate in terms of size and scale and would also meet housing need in the area.

They also said that it was seen as being an extension of the village rather than a development into the countryside, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Housing crisis'

People looking for an affordable home can apply for properties owned and managed by Cornwall Council and its partner landlords through Homechoice.

The parish council had claimed affordable housing officers had "artificially inflated" figures based on the number of people on the housing waiting list in the area as there were often "individual requests for housing in multiple parishes on the Homechoice register".

Parish councillors also said they felt the development was too large and would have a negative impact on an Area of Great Landscape Value.

However, Cornwall Council's west sub-area planning committee heard there were currently 54 households on the housing waiting list who had a local connection to Constantine.

Of those, 49 were currently living in the parish, it was told.

Georgina Hayman, from Coastline Housing, said there was a real need for the affordable homes because "we are in the middle of a housing crisis which has been made worse by Covid", and Coastline was trying to provide affordable homes to help local people.