Cornwall Council sells £640,000 flats for £1

It is hoped Homes England will fund the refurbishment of the building for affordable housing

Cornwall Council has agreed to sell Grade II listed flats worth £640,000 for £1 to ensure affordable homes stay in a Cornish town centre.

The council's cabinet approved a recommendation to release the 11 Coastguard Flats in Looe to a community land trust to avoid costly maintenance.

Three Seas Community Land Trust offered to carry out a £1m refurbishment through grant funding.

Councillors said the deal meant it would remain as affordable housing.

Second home ownership and holiday lets are blamed for a shortage of affordable housing in the county.

Councillor David Harris, Cornwall Council's deputy leader, said: "This will retain much-needed affordable housing provision in Looe."

He said an open market sale would likely have resulted in "the loss of affordable housing provision in Looe", impacting negatively on the housing service by "increasing demand for temporary accommodation".

He added: "A community-led redevelopment scheme would ensure the flats would still be used for affordable housing provision."

Refurbishment of the North Road building was deemed "financially unviable" by Cornwall Housing in 2021.

The building was declared surplus to the council's needs.

With support from Looe councillors Edwina Hannaford and Armand Toms, Three Seas Community Land Trust stepped in with an offer to carry out a full refurbishment of the properties at a cost of over £1m, to be achieved by grant funding.

The cabinet meeting heard the project would be hard to achieve without grant funding, which is available from Homes England, which supports the project.

Councillor Hannaford said: "Providing secure affordable housing is incredibly important for the people of Looe. The lack of affordable housing in Looe is a real emergency, replicated across Cornwall."