Cornwall partners with modular housing provider to tackle homelessness

Cornwall Council has entered into a deal to buy SoloHaus ‘micro homes’ to help tackle the housing crisis.

29 self-contained modular one-bedroom homes have arrived in Cornwall and are set to be deployed to sites in the coming months.

The homes, designed and delivered by The Hill Group, have been designed to provide self-contained accommodation in a supported environment for homeless individuals.

Olly Monk, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning at Cornwall Council, said: ‘This marks a real tipping point in this Council’s approach to solving the housing crisis. The opportunity to buy these units was only identified at the end of August and officers have worked extremely hard over a very short period to turn this around.

‘These homes are ready to be dropped onto sites and provide top-quality accommodation, with all fixtures and fittings included. They are an evolution of the cabin-style emergency accommodation that we have provided in Truro and Camborne and, over time, will remove the need for those type of pods, which we have leased.

‘Buying and deploying permanent quality modular homes such as these will allow us to put homes in key locations throughout the Duchy. This is about us recognising that there are people in our communities that really need our help, and us providing them with an exceptional quality housing solution that can be deployed quickly.’

The homes are built in a factory in Shrewsbury and feature the highest standards of sustainability, efficiency, safety and durability. They can be easily transported on a lorry and the Council will be working with Cormac to deploy the new homes to sites throughout the Duchy.

SoloHaus units are provided fully furnished with a kitchen, living and dining area, bedroom and bathroom.

Andy Hill, Group Chief Executive at Hill, said: ‘We’re thrilled to be supporting Cornwall Council’s efforts to reduce homelessness at a time of major pressure on the housing market. 

‘We designed the SoloHaus units to be safe, high-quality homes for some of the most vulnerable people in society and we hope that Cornwall residents will enjoy living in them.’

In related news, NewStart speaks to John Bellamy, the newly appointed Category Manager for Construction at Procurement for Housing, about the benefits of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and what is stopping social housing providers from using them.

Photo supplied by Cornwall Council