New homes are a first for Cornwall ALMO

Five families have received the keys to their new council-owned homes in the rural seaside town of Perranporth, Cornwall.

Council owned company Carrick Housing has built three two-bedroom houses, a four- bedroom property and one three-bedroom home to rent following a £245,000 contribution from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

The properties are the first new homes in the south west to be built by a council arms-length management organisation and have been given an allocation requiring tenants to have a local connection criteria to the parish.

Jayne Cutting, a teaching assistant at Perranporth’s primary school, has moved into one of the new homes. She says: “I’ve lived in Perranporth since 1959 and been brought up here. I have two girls and I want them to be brought up here too. I work at the local school as a teaching assistant and have family in Perranporth. The house is absolutely fantastic and bigger than I expected, lots of space, it’s really lovely.”

Fellow new resident Stephanie Harris, mum of disabled toddler Marshall Janson, says “We are delighted to be living near our family in Perranporth, it will be so good for me and Marshall to be near our support network. And, he’ll be able to go to the same school that I went to – the school his cousins go to now.”

The new homes are built to level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and are fitted with ground source heat pumps.

Funded by the HCA, Cornwall Council and Carrick Housing the properties are the first to be built by council-owned company Carrick Housing, who are also developing housing in St Newlyn East and Falmouth. Carrick Housing manages about 3,700 homes on behalf of the council and was able to bid for the money following two successful inspections by the Audit Commission.

Gerald Chin-Quee, a council tenant from Falmouth and Chair of the Board, said: “Tenants told us three years ago that they wanted us to help the council create more council houses for local people to rent. These additional homes are the first council-owned homes in this area for thirty years, and as well as developing further Carrick Housing homes, we are also helping the council build the first Cornwall Council homes.”