Sitting on the hill in prime position overlooking one of Cornwall’s most idyllic harbours is a row of quaint coastguard cottages which, until recently, were owned by the local council.
The Grade II building, which has already been divided into 11 self-contained flats, could’ve fetched millions on the open market in a town dominated by second homes or holiday lets, but a radical move by the local council saw them sold to Three Seas Cornwall for £1 to create local homes for local people.
Simon Ryan, from Three Seas Community Land Trust, which is taking on the mammoth task of refurbishing and renting out the flats, explains the motivation and ambition behind the groundbreaking project: “Towns like Looe are almost submerged by the holiday trade. Everything gets sold off, the church, the garages even the public toilets, and they all become second homes.
“Many ordinary working people are never now going to get on the housing ladder. A lot of local people grew up in these houses, or their parents did. Everybody can see them from the town, they’re an absolute icon. If the council tried to sell these on as second homes, there’d be a revolution. There’d be rioting and massive protests.”
Raising the funds
While the appetite was there to do something different from Three Seas, the council and the community, there was a lot of legwork to do before the purchase could go through – £60,000 worth of feasibility studies and surveys – funded by Cornwall Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
Three Seas launched a popular community shares offer to give local people a real stake in these community assets; it resulted in hundreds of local people jointly contributing over £115,000, receiving shares which should give them a small annual return on their investment (circa 3%) as long as the flats are making a modest profit. But most local people’s motivation was more philanthropic, supporting the innovative project for the benefit of their town as a whole.
“The town is completely on board,” said Simon. “We came with a genuine offer and a track record and people are really excited. We went to a hardware shop in town to pick up some masking tape and drawing pins. and the guy said ‘you’re from the flats’ and he didn’t charge us.”
Other funding came from £100,000 in match equity investment from the Community Shares Booster Fund and £40,000 from the Co-operative and Community Finance ICOF fund, as well as £660,000 extra investment from the forward-thinking Cornwall Council. Off the back of the community shares success, Three Seas Cornwall now has agreements in principle for £2million of capital money, grants from Homes England, Cornwall Council and loan finance from Triodos bank – which are subject to approval, but looking very likely.
“With the community shares and the level of local support, we weren’t too worried about raising the funds,” says Simon. “But the timescales are an issue – developers can get their hands on instant cash, it takes us up to 18 months and many sellers won’t wait. We’re very grateful the council took a punt on us. The housing, policy and strategic teams were all on side, but the finance people took some convincing, because times are very tough for local authorities.
“There is an absolute need to create local housing, not up some back alley at the edge of town but in the middle of town. We’re saying to people, you can save these houses for local use – mainly for young people leaving home for the first time. Employers are desperate, they can’t get staff because the young people leave. This is part of an ecology that means people can, rightly or wrongly, can afford to live on low pay, because the rent is viable.”
Raising the funds
While the appetite was there to do something different from Three Seas, the council and the community, there was a lot of legwork to do before the purchase could go through – £60,000 worth of feasibility studies and surveys – funded by Cornwall Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
Three Seas launched a popular community shares offer to give local people a real stake in these community assets; it resulted in hundreds of local people jointly contributing over £115,000, receiving shares which should give them a small annual return on their investment (circa 3%) as long as the flats are making a modest profit. But most local people’s motivation was more philanthropic, supporting the innovative project for the benefit of their town as a whole.
“The town is completely on board,” said Simon. “We came with a genuine offer and a track record and people are really excited. We went to a hardware shop in town to pick up some masking tape and drawing pins. and the guy said ‘you’re from the flats’ and he didn’t charge us.”
Other funding came from £100,000 in match equity investment from the Community Shares Booster Fund and £40,000 from the Co-operative and Community Finance ICOF fund, as well as £660,000 extra investment from the forward-thinking Cornwall Council. Off the back of the community shares success, Three Seas Cornwall now has agreements in principle for £2million of capital money, grants from Homes England, Cornwall Council and loan finance from Triodos bank – which are subject to approval, but looking very likely.
“With the community shares and the level of local support, we weren’t too worried about raising the funds,” says Simon. “But the timescales are an issue – developers can get their hands on instant cash, it takes us up to 18 months and many sellers won’t wait. We’re very grateful the council took a punt on us. The housing, policy and strategic teams were all on side, but the finance people took some convincing, because times are very tough for local authorities.
“There is an absolute need to create local housing, not up some back alley at the edge of town but in the middle of town. We’re saying to people, you can save these houses for local use – mainly for young people leaving home for the first time. Employers are desperate, they can’t get staff because the young people leave. This is part of an ecology that means people can, rightly or wrongly, can afford to live on low pay, because the rent is viable.”
A new and innovative solution
“We know what we’re doing – our team did the same for a community trust in Millpool. Our guarantee is total. They will only go to local people who grew up in this town, which is what everyone wants to hear. This is a completely new solution. It’s community-based.”
There are still some planning hoops to jump through and they need to become a registered housing provider before they access the capital money and, of course, the huge job of refurbishing the flats will need to be completed – with local firms stepping up to help.
After this, tenant selection can begin via a points-based system scored on whether applicants were born in Looe and how long they have lived in the town. The points for local connection will outweigh the points for need. With 25,000+ people on the housing list in Cornwall, Simon and the team are expecting over 200 applicants for these flats which will cost around £400 a month to rent, with no or very low energy bills thanks to a shared heat pump system being installed. The first residents are expected to move in during the summer of 2026.
Simon added: “It’s all coming together. It’s genuinely exciting. We really are onto something – a new model for affordable housing. We even have a new strapline – where Cornwall leads, England follows.”
