Over 150 new affordable homes are making their way up out of the ground across Cornwall for local people in housing need, Coastline Housing has announced.

The landlord’s development programme for supplying new affordable housing has picked up speed recently with homes currently being built in Redruth, Falmouth, Lewannick (near Launceston), Trewoon, Padstow and Camborne.

The new homes could not have been made possible without vital funding from the Homes and Communities Agency and Cornwall Council which amounted to a total of £10.5million during 2009/10.

Michelle Foster, Director of Development, explained: “This is the first time in the history of the company that we have had this many homes on-site at the same time. Having previously operated mainly in west-Cornwall, it also signifies our move into other areas of the county where housing need is just as high. Padstow, for instance, is a town that many people would think of as incredibly rich, but it is also a town of acute housing need and these properties will be the first affordable homes built in the town in five years.

“Of course, all this could not have been achieved without the support and funding from Cornwall Council, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Townscape Heritage Initiative.”

Coastline Housing Ltd is an independent, not-for-profit housing association owning and managing over 3,700 homes. One of its main aims is to build new affordable homes for people in housing need locally. The challenge faced by Coastline is enormous. At 13 times average earnings in many areas of Cornwall, high house price rises have excluded many people from owning their own home. Thousands of families have registered for affordable rented housing in the County and many more are known to be in need.

The homes being built are a mixture of properties for rent and shared ownership (part buy, part rent), a way to make home ownership easier for people when the private market is out of reach. Coastline is currently marketing a selection of part buy, part rent properties at its Lewannick site. Anyone who is interested should contact the Home Ownership Team on 08082 027728.