I asked Cllr Jayne Kirkham Labour candidate for Truro and Falmouth recently what was the Labour policy for tackling the affordable housing shortage,which according to the Local Government inform website states that the number of households in Kernow on the social housing list stands at 23,181 as of 31st March ( 2021/2022). Cllr Kirkham sent me a link to an article from the Evening Standard about the Labour policy to build more social housing, though with nothing on potential numbers or when this might start.
That is very laudable even though they will not repeal the right to buy which was abolished in both Scotland and Wales preferring an already failed policy of sell one to replace one strategy.
Building more social housing is a welcome move forward but is it not time to expect our candidates for the general election to argue for a more revolutionary approach to both meeting the housing needs in Kernow and protecting its identity ?
Social housing would seem the most beneficial way of providing affordable housing for Cornish families with connections in particular to rural and coastal communities that they would otherwise be priced out of by second homes,holiday lets and inward migration to Kernow.
Of course this is not an issue that just affects Kernow, in England there are many coastal and rural areas where local people are priced out of the area they or their family have a connection to.
But Kernow has a far more complex problem when it comes to house building and land development from the issues facing England because of the recognition of the Cornish as a national minority .
Kernow is recognised as a Celtic nation and homeland to the Cornish, and the people of Kernow have a unique culture and identity that should be preserved and protected. There is a question that could be asked of how much of the culture and identity is shaped by the coast line, mine workings,moorlands,fields and farms and the villages that are Kernow , as more housing developments change the face of Kernow do they also erode the culture and identity ?
Housing developments are primarily being built on green field sites,and the argument is made that we have got acres of green fields in Kernow so does it really matter if a few acres here or there are lost when it is going to provide much needed housing?
I would argue that every field that is lost to open market developments erodes Cornish culture and does not provide any solution to the acute housing needs in Kernow .
Open market developments fall loosely in two categories, the identikit housing built across the UK by the big house building companies that shoehorn as many properties into the development as possible and the smaller luxury developments aimed at the wealthy buyer. Both types of development often are beyond the means of a Cornish income to either rent or purchase ,do not blend in with the existing housing in the area, and change what was once small populations into much larger communities, putting pressure on already overstretched public services ,they offer only a handful of ‘affordable homes’ that put people who need housing who have lived for sometime or have family connection to the area into a competitive lottery for a home. Open market developments with their higher pricing in our coastal towns and villages have created an air of exclusivity and a feeling that the Cornish coast is only for those that can afford it.
Yet conversely there is a type of development that actually strengthens Cornish identity . If acres of land are developed to build social housing in rural and coastal villages to provide homes for people who already live with the insecurity and high cost of private tenancy’s or have long family connections to an area that they would otherwise be unable to afford to live in ,then it strengthens the culture and identity of Kernow and the social bonds and oral history of the villages that have been forged through generations are then protected.
The current housing plans have proven to be unworkable. At present right to buy has removed much of the social housing stock and housing provided by the council and not for profit charities can not provide enough homes .Open market developments with a small affordable element are not really making any indentation into the shortage of homes for Cornish people and plans by Labour for social housing would meet opposition from developers whose open market developments are geared up to meeting the inward migration population growth in Kernow . Look at the population growth since 1931.These figures also have to include the baby boomer area post WW2.
Between the lowest population period in Kernow recorded by the census in 1931 at 317,968 to 1990 when the population was recorded at 468,425 a growth over nearly sixty years of 150,457. By 2021 the population was 568,210 a growth in just over thirty years of 99,785 . The Council is now planning for the population to grow to at least 600,000 by 2028.
How can Kernow provide desperately needed secure homes for local families and also create housing to meet the rapid population increase by inward migration to Kernow without concreting over vast swathes of the Duchy and destroying much of what makes Kernow unique?
We need politicians who are willing to talk about what would have once been unthinkable ideas and are not wedded to national party policies. Ideas such as putting social housing developments for local families first, removing the right to buy, a moratorium on all new second homes and holiday lets, limiting the number of open market developments of any size with a burden of proof that they are needed and rent caps on former social housing that has been sold off and is now rented privately.
I would agree that my views on housing may seem extreme and would be regarded as unworkable and going against the orthodoxy of the free market. But if the uniqueness of Kernow is to be protected then we need politicians who are brave enough and have the foresight to speak about the tough question of how we can protect Cornish heritage and identity and address the housing needs.
Below is slightly off topic but it serves to highlight a point about Cornish heritage and how it can be protected if there is a will to do it.
I have used as my source an article by Jackie Skipper called Penryn . A future for the past . Cornish Life Vol. 4 1977. An interview with Harry Grant.
In 1975 Carrick District Council conducted a survey of housing conditions in old Penryn the ancient town centre and the results were very worrying. Of the 212 inhabited houses
42% had no fixed bath
9% had no sink whatsoever
56% had only external W.C
98% had no damp course
65% needed roof replacement or extensive repair
92% had a bad external layout.
It was also found that the younger people were abandoning the old town leaving behind a large proportion of elderly and people on low income who could not afford to renovate the dwellings.
Harry Grant Carrick’s District architect was asked to look at the town with a view to conservation. The report from the surveys came back and it made bleak reading and it would cost the district a lot of money.
The houses in Penryn dated from the fifteenth century to the Georgian era and it had remained essentially the same town that existed in the time of John Wesley and was one of the oldest towns still in its original form in Europe. Given the dreadful state of many of the ancient buildings and this being 1975 at time when even having conservation status meant there was no guarantee that demolition would not happen and there were fears that much of the old town would be lost by the 1980’s.Many councils would have bulldozed the majority of buildings and started again. But Carrick to their eternal credit made the decision to restore. The primary reason was to make sure people had habitable homes but also because this was an important part of Cornish heritage and if it was lost it could never be replaced
To fully understand how brave a decision this was you have to look at the state of the UK in 1975.
In 1975 the UK was entering into its third year of recession, Inflation reached 26%, unemployment was over a million and climbing, strikes in manufacturing and public services were crippling the UK economy . The following year the prime minister James Callaghan had to ask the International Monetary Fund for a £2.3bn (£21 billion in 2023) bailout to support the UK’s economy.
In 2023 would any local authority think of doing something like the restoration of Penryn in such a financial crisis?
Undaunted the council looked for a funding solution and suggested that the town should be made a ‘ Housing Action Area’ by the Department for Environment ,all the evidence was condensed into a report and sent to the Department for Environment and this took the Department by complete surprise.
Why Surprise? The Housing Act only passed in 1974 and was designed for reconstruction in slum areas such as the Gorbals and parts of Liverpool. The criteria for granting the money was rigid. Amongst other things there must be bad housing conditions; social stress arising from these and evidence of at least 2-300 houses in bad condition. The D of E thought Penryn was far too small for consideration until it was pointed out that surely it would be more rewarding to benefit an entire community and if the old town centre was allowed to die then social stress was bound to follow.
Amazingly the Department was so impressed with the report that it eventually made a grant of £2 million ( the equivalent of £21 million in 2023).
The plans for restoration could only happen if the townspeople wanted it and initially doubts were expressed to whether they would.
Public meetings were held and the results were overwhelming and gratifyingly a packed meeting held at the Town Hall in Broad Street where residents were offered up to 75% grants of £2,2400 (£25,000 in 2023) to repair their houses or 90% grants if on low income with loans available if the cost of repair exceeds this with special mortgages available. Over 60% of residents made enquiries .
70 houses were tackled by 1977 and the remaining properties would be completed over the next four years.
Harry Grant said in 1977 ” It may seem like trying for the impossible ,but what we are aiming for is a prosperous, modern, medieval town. And it’s all voluntary ,there’s no compulsory purchasing involved, in fact we cannot make anyone improve their home if they don’t want to. All the council is trying to do is help the townspeople help themselves”
I think it could be said in 2023 that they succeeded.
Why is it that 48 years ago Carrick council in one of the worst recessions the UK had known was able to look at the importance of making sure homes were fit to live in a whole town and to protect Cornish heritage for future generations and yet in 2023 our politicians and those standing as candidates for the national parties at the next election have in many cases not even asked the question how we house the people of Kernow and protect the environment and heritage for the generations to come?
KernowCalling 