Council to buy two holiday parks to help house the homeless in Cornwall
The local authority is pushing ahead with spending £15million to provide temporary accommodation
Last updated 24th Sep 2021
Cornwall Council is set to buy two holiday parks which will be used to provide temporary accommodation for people who find themselves homeless.
The council’s Cabinet agreed to push ahead with spending £15million on providing temporary accommodation which would include the two holiday parks.
During the Cabinet meeting this morning Olly Monk, member for housing, did not name the parks but said one was in the Hayle area and the other in the Helston area and said they were both on the market.
The park includes accommodation which has permission for residential use all year round which would help with providing homes for people in need.
Cllr Monk said that the Hayle site would provide accommodation for 19 households including single people and small families. He said the Helston site would provide for nine families.
The Cabinet member said that housing was “the greatest priority facing this council” and that providing temporary accommodation was a particular problem.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of people who have needed temporary accommodation with some families being evicted from their homes as landlords decide to sell up or turn them into holiday homes. The situation has been exacerbated by a lack of housing available to buy or rent.
He said that the council was currently facing a £5.9m loss in housing benefit and said that “without significant capital intervention that cost will rise even further”.
Cllr Monk said that the council had already made investment to reduce the reliance on hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation to provide temporary housing and said they were making “real progress”.
He said that he was “pleased” to present the plans to “acquire two holiday parks and turn them into accommodation for families in need”.
Cllr Monk said that the parks were well managed and would be able to provide facilities needed for people in need of temporary accommodation. He said that local Cornwall councillors in the areas where the parks are located had supported the plans.
He added: “We will bring the site online quickly to help those in need. We find ourselves in a very difficult situation and one that Cabinet cannot allow to continue".
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 to fund the acquisition of temporary accommodation.
Cllr Monk said: “Those post of money have been sat there for a while and they will be available in the future should the Community Land Trust need them in the future".
The Cabinet agreed to go ahead with the acquisition of the properties, although the full details were in a confidential report which was considered in a private session.