According to a report by CornwallLive, Cornwall, one of the UK’s top holiday destinations, has some of the worst council housing in the country.
The article highlights the poor quality of the homes and the urgent need for repairs and regeneration to bring the properties up to a decent standard.
The council owns around 10,300 homes, which Cornwall Housing Limited manages.
Many of these homes are poor, with some described as “cold and damp” environments. Mike Owen, landlord services manager for Cornwall Council, admitted that the council has some of the worst housing stock in the country.
He also stated that the housing stock is ancient and not in great shape, with the stock quality in the bottom quartile compared to other local authorities.
The council has allocated £ 24 million this year for improvements to its homes, but it probably needs £100m to fill the gaps in work required to bring the properties up to a “decent” standard. The council has met compliance in some areas but still needs to provide five-year property certificates.
Approximately 180 properties a month come to the end of their five-year certificate, and the council is employing more contractors to help meet the backlog and carry out the required work on those properties added to the list.
Independent councillor Tim Dwelly believes that the council should be considering the regeneration of its council housing, rebuilding those homes that are no longer of a decent standard and seeking to make money out of some of the land that could be invested into council housing.
He called for “redesigning areas so that people get decent new homes, so that money is made to use other bits of that land to cover that cost”.
The committee voted unanimously to note the report and call for the council to consider regeneration schemes to provide decent replacement homes for local people in Cornwall, which would improve the council’s housing stock.
»Cornwall reportedly has some of the worst council housing in the country«
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