Truro Young Persons Accommodation (Newquay Road)

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Background

The impact of the Covid pandemic, the reduction in the number of privately rented homes (due to increased demand for holiday accommodation), rising rental costs and the recent general property boom have created a “perfect storm” in the local housing market.

The lack of affordable accommodation is affecting all types of households, including working families, couples and singles and younger persons. Many people are struggling to find somewhere to live, with a sharp increase in the number of single people rough sleeping or sleeping in cars and vans.

Tackling the current housing crisis is one of Cornwall Council’s top priorities.

People can find themselves homeless and in need of housing assistance from the Council for various reasons, such as family or relationship breakdown, people fleeing domestic violence, eviction from a privately rented home (including ‘no fault’ evictions), loss of income/employment, bereavement, significant changes to mental or physical health, or struggling to cope with life outside the armed forces. Younger persons leaving the care system are particularly vulnerable to falling into a path of insecure housing or homelessness.

This can lead to people having no option (or feeling as though they have no option) but to sleep rough, sleeping in their cars, or making temporary arrangements to ‘sofa surf’.

There are over 700 households either living in temporary or emergency accommodation in Cornwall, of which 118 people are aged 18-25 and 18 of these have Truro as a first area of preference of where they would like to live. Some of these people have been in temporary accommodation for more than 12 months.

We are providing these homes for people in Cornwall who are without the resource to lift themselves out of a path towards homelessness and who need our help for the reasons mentioned above.

Cornwall Council is using this website to provide information about the proposed scheme.

About the Newquay Road scheme

The aim of the proposed Newquay Road scheme in Truro is to provide young persons housing for young people aged 18-25 to stay in for the short-medium term providing them with a good-quality, home of a manageable size with dedicated and specialist on-site support staff.

The proposed scheme will deliver ten ‘SoloHaus’ modular homes which Cornwall Council own in a well landscaped setting arranged around a high-quality communal building or ‘hub’ where support staff will be based.

Layout plan for Newquay Road scheme

Who will be housed at the Newquay Road scheme?

The residents will be younger persons aged 18-25 who would otherwise be at risk of becoming homeless. The intention of the scheme is very much to prevent homelessness before it starts. The young people would typically have low support needs and will not have yet experienced entrenched homelessness. The otherwise-vulnerable young people will benefit from on-site, specialist support staff providing support and interventions very much aimed at preventing them from falling into homelessness.

The scheme will enable 10 young people in housing crisis find somewhere to live of good quality where they can be safe and secure and appropriately supported. Cornwall Council has a significant deficit of such specialist younger persons accommodation, to whom it has a duty to house.

The kind of person the scheme could help is perhaps best illustrated with an example: a young person who has previously been in the care system turns 18 and no longer receives care and is need of somewhere to live but is unable to afford something on the open market and they are not a priority banding on the affordable Cornwall Homechoice register. They perhaps “sofa-surf” with friends for a little while before this becomes unsustainable; they then present to Cornwall Council as being at risk of homelessness. They are likely to be housed temporarily in an adult hostel where they could be exposed to high support needs individuals perhaps with entrenched associated issues such as trauma, alcohol or substance addictions. Without having a fixed address the young person will also find it extremely difficult to carry out basic tasks such as opening a bank account and applying for jobs.

Please watch this short film for further information on the kind of person the scheme could help in the future: https://vimeo.com/958938893?share=copy

Some of the young people may have needs which require some additional help and support, such as autism. They may also have not had the same supportive family background as others have had. All will need support around managing a home and living independently.

What support will be provided?

The site will be managed by specialist housing management provider Cornwall Housing Ltd. They will be responsible for repairs and maintenance of the accommodation and grounds to ensure the site remains an attractive and comfortable space for residents to live.

We will commission an external support provider with the skills and experience of working with young people to provide on-site support staff with back-up from a range of agencies, as necessary. The staff will help the young people to access long term sustainable housing through support focused on access to training, education and employment. They will also provide support around managing your home, budgeting, paying your bills, being a good neighbour, access to professional support and advice where needed.

Every client will have a plan that identifies specific areas they may need support with, for example seeking education placements, accessing health care or employment applications. The support team will be based onsite and will be available 7 days a week, with out-of-hours cover available should it be required.

The government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) identified that Cornwall has a significant number of young people who were homeless compared to other Local Authority areas. As part of the government’s wider homelessness funding MHCLG requested eligible Councils to apply for funding opportunities for capital and revenue funding specifically for accommodation and support for young people aged 18-25 who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.

We worked with a range of stakeholders to understand the needs of young people and what support is needed. We made a bid for capital and revenue funding and achieved an award of nearly £4m. The funding is split between capital which will contribute towards delivery of 22 homes for younger persons across 2 sites (the other being in Newquay) and revenue funding to support individuals at these homes.





About SoloHaus modular housing

SoloHaus units are practical, cost effective to run, and come complete with all the fixtures and fittings that someone might need to live in the property. SoloHaus homes are purpose-designed, contemporary and benefit from low carbon heating provided by a communal air source heat pump. They also include Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems which helps keep running costs low. You can find out more about the SoloHaus product here


Next Steps

This proposal, if approved, would result in a productive use of a vacant, brownfield site to give younger people a chance to make a positive start to their adult life with a safe and secure home and a little place to call their own.

A planning application for this scheme was submitted to the Council in January 2025. The application is currently following the normal statutory planning process, which includes a period of public consultation.

How you can get involved

*To give your views on the scheme as part of the formal planning process you need to comment via the Council's formal planning processes, using the online planning portal - search for application reference number PA24/09104 .



Background

The impact of the Covid pandemic, the reduction in the number of privately rented homes (due to increased demand for holiday accommodation), rising rental costs and the recent general property boom have created a “perfect storm” in the local housing market.

The lack of affordable accommodation is affecting all types of households, including working families, couples and singles and younger persons. Many people are struggling to find somewhere to live, with a sharp increase in the number of single people rough sleeping or sleeping in cars and vans.

Tackling the current housing crisis is one of Cornwall Council’s top priorities.

People can find themselves homeless and in need of housing assistance from the Council for various reasons, such as family or relationship breakdown, people fleeing domestic violence, eviction from a privately rented home (including ‘no fault’ evictions), loss of income/employment, bereavement, significant changes to mental or physical health, or struggling to cope with life outside the armed forces. Younger persons leaving the care system are particularly vulnerable to falling into a path of insecure housing or homelessness.

This can lead to people having no option (or feeling as though they have no option) but to sleep rough, sleeping in their cars, or making temporary arrangements to ‘sofa surf’.

There are over 700 households either living in temporary or emergency accommodation in Cornwall, of which 118 people are aged 18-25 and 18 of these have Truro as a first area of preference of where they would like to live. Some of these people have been in temporary accommodation for more than 12 months.

We are providing these homes for people in Cornwall who are without the resource to lift themselves out of a path towards homelessness and who need our help for the reasons mentioned above.

Cornwall Council is using this website to provide information about the proposed scheme.

About the Newquay Road scheme

The aim of the proposed Newquay Road scheme in Truro is to provide young persons housing for young people aged 18-25 to stay in for the short-medium term providing them with a good-quality, home of a manageable size with dedicated and specialist on-site support staff.

The proposed scheme will deliver ten ‘SoloHaus’ modular homes which Cornwall Council own in a well landscaped setting arranged around a high-quality communal building or ‘hub’ where support staff will be based.

Layout plan for Newquay Road scheme

Who will be housed at the Newquay Road scheme?

The residents will be younger persons aged 18-25 who would otherwise be at risk of becoming homeless. The intention of the scheme is very much to prevent homelessness before it starts. The young people would typically have low support needs and will not have yet experienced entrenched homelessness. The otherwise-vulnerable young people will benefit from on-site, specialist support staff providing support and interventions very much aimed at preventing them from falling into homelessness.

The scheme will enable 10 young people in housing crisis find somewhere to live of good quality where they can be safe and secure and appropriately supported. Cornwall Council has a significant deficit of such specialist younger persons accommodation, to whom it has a duty to house.

The kind of person the scheme could help is perhaps best illustrated with an example: a young person who has previously been in the care system turns 18 and no longer receives care and is need of somewhere to live but is unable to afford something on the open market and they are not a priority banding on the affordable Cornwall Homechoice register. They perhaps “sofa-surf” with friends for a little while before this becomes unsustainable; they then present to Cornwall Council as being at risk of homelessness. They are likely to be housed temporarily in an adult hostel where they could be exposed to high support needs individuals perhaps with entrenched associated issues such as trauma, alcohol or substance addictions. Without having a fixed address the young person will also find it extremely difficult to carry out basic tasks such as opening a bank account and applying for jobs.

Please watch this short film for further information on the kind of person the scheme could help in the future: https://vimeo.com/958938893?share=copy

Some of the young people may have needs which require some additional help and support, such as autism. They may also have not had the same supportive family background as others have had. All will need support around managing a home and living independently.

What support will be provided?

The site will be managed by specialist housing management provider Cornwall Housing Ltd. They will be responsible for repairs and maintenance of the accommodation and grounds to ensure the site remains an attractive and comfortable space for residents to live.

We will commission an external support provider with the skills and experience of working with young people to provide on-site support staff with back-up from a range of agencies, as necessary. The staff will help the young people to access long term sustainable housing through support focused on access to training, education and employment. They will also provide support around managing your home, budgeting, paying your bills, being a good neighbour, access to professional support and advice where needed.

Every client will have a plan that identifies specific areas they may need support with, for example seeking education placements, accessing health care or employment applications. The support team will be based onsite and will be available 7 days a week, with out-of-hours cover available should it be required.

The government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) identified that Cornwall has a significant number of young people who were homeless compared to other Local Authority areas. As part of the government’s wider homelessness funding MHCLG requested eligible Councils to apply for funding opportunities for capital and revenue funding specifically for accommodation and support for young people aged 18-25 who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.

We worked with a range of stakeholders to understand the needs of young people and what support is needed. We made a bid for capital and revenue funding and achieved an award of nearly £4m. The funding is split between capital which will contribute towards delivery of 22 homes for younger persons across 2 sites (the other being in Newquay) and revenue funding to support individuals at these homes.





About SoloHaus modular housing

SoloHaus units are practical, cost effective to run, and come complete with all the fixtures and fittings that someone might need to live in the property. SoloHaus homes are purpose-designed, contemporary and benefit from low carbon heating provided by a communal air source heat pump. They also include Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems which helps keep running costs low. You can find out more about the SoloHaus product here


Next Steps

This proposal, if approved, would result in a productive use of a vacant, brownfield site to give younger people a chance to make a positive start to their adult life with a safe and secure home and a little place to call their own.

A planning application for this scheme was submitted to the Council in January 2025. The application is currently following the normal statutory planning process, which includes a period of public consultation.

How you can get involved

*To give your views on the scheme as part of the formal planning process you need to comment via the Council's formal planning processes, using the online planning portal - search for application reference number PA24/09104 .


Page published: 22 Jan 2025, 09:57 AM