Cornish charity needs £250k to refurbish affordable Looe flats

The cottages will provide 11 one to two-bedroom properties, with rents at about £400 per month

A campaign is trying to raise money to refurbish 11 flats earmarked for affordable housing in a Cornish town centre.

Cornwall Council last year agreed to sell the Grade-II listed Coastguard Flats in Looe to the Three Seas Community Land Trust for £1.

The trust agreed to refurbish them through grant funding.

Manager Simon Ryan said £250,000 in private investment was still needed for the project.

The cottages will provide 11 one to two-bedroom properties, with rents at about £400 per month.

There were 26,000 people on the housing waiting list across Cornwall at the end of 2023.

The trust said those who invest in the project would "own and control" the organisation, with each member having one vote regardless of the size of the investment.

Manager Simon Ryan said £250,000 in private investment was still needed for the project

Mr Ryan said the project was about "defending the community as a whole" by ensuring local people could afford to live in Looe.

"It's about people getting a share, it's not a donation," he said.

"You get to own a part of this building and you get to be part of the decision-making that guarantees it will stay local forever."

Katherine Cobb, the trust's chairwoman, added: "We all know in Cornwall that there are properties like this, or similar to this, that jolly well ought to have people living in them."

The charity has until July to raise the funds and, if successful, work can start in the autumn.

It said the structure of the building was sound but the internal condition was poor.