Cornwall Council buys 'micro-homes' to help tackle housing crisis

Cornwall Council is to buy ‘micro homes’ in a bid to help tackle the region's housing crisis. 

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

The homes, bought from SoloHaus, have been designed to provide self-contained accommodation in a supported environment for homeless people.  

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."

Olly continued: “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.  

“This is another example of what we’re doing to prevent using insecure B&B-style accommodation for vulnerable people. It’s about treating those people that need our help with dignity and respect. 

“They will play a vital role in making sure that nobody need sleep rough in Cornwall or have to be housed in unreliable B&B or hotel accommodation."

The council says SoloHaus homes are well-placed to help solve the housing crisis in Cornwall - designed to be robust enough to be deployed on a permanent basis, while retaining the flexibility to be picked up and moved from site-to-site for short-term use if necessary. 

With a 60-year minimum lifespan and construction warranty, they have been designed with the help of leading homelessness charities to provide a safe, secure, comfortable and independent place to stay for people who are homeless or have been homeless in the recent past.