Work has commenced at Vicarage Flats in the centre of St Ives this spring. Congratulations to St Ives Community Land Trust which has heroically navigated a complex and expensive predevelopment process to now start on site to develop six flats for local people, next to the Guildhall.

The project brings back into local benefit 4 flats which were originally council homes run by the local authority, latterly Penwith District Council before stock transferring them to the then Penwith Housing Association which has since merged with Livewest. The flats were at risk of being lost to the local community when they were selected to be disposed. Incorporating ground floor space to add a further two flats, this project will renovate the established building and breathe new life into a town where hundreds of previously permanently occupied homes have been replaced with, and increasingly dominated by, holiday lets and second homes.

CCLT has supported St Ives CLT throughout. Project manager Jill Block said, “The Old Vicarage has lay empty since 2016 until the local community through our CLT raised the funds and managed to secure its purchase in 2019, with the aim of rescuing this historic building and now converting it to provide much-needed secure, affordable homes for the local community.”