Last June, Prince William couldn’t wait to step all over his father’s very first Trooping the Colour parade. William gave Roya Nikkhah an exclusive interview that weekend (Trooping weekend), all about his new groundbreaking, William-centered initiative in which he alone would “solve homelessness.” How would he solve it? By handing out £3 million in grants to various homeless organizations and adding at least three new layers of bureaucracy attached to the money. The whole thing might have been an okay story for William, if only he hadn’t run around, briefing every media outlet that he was going to “solve” everything and he is the savior of homeless people. The whole thing was dead on arrival – experts in the field blasted the program and blasted William. He’s barely mentioned Homewards since he turned up in Aberdeen to absolutely zero crowds. Well, I guess Homewards has been successfully buried (RIP) and now he’s got a new thing – Slumlord Peg, the affordable housing savior.
The Prince of Wales is to build and fund a £3 million social housing development on his land to tackle homelessness. William has overseen plans to construct the 24 homes in Cornwall to be ready next year. They will provide high-quality accommodation in an area with one of the most acute homelessness problems in the UK. The development in Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, the Cornish seaside town famous for its surfing, will include a mix of four-bedroom houses and one-bedroom flats.
It will deliver on William’s pledge in an interview with The Sunday Times last year that he would put social housing on his Duchy of Cornwall land, the 130,000-acre property portfolio valued at £1 billion stretching from Cornwall to Kent, which he controls as the Duke of Cornwall.
The duchy, which provides the heir to the throne with an income, recorded profits of £24 million in 2022-23. It will supply the land for the project free of charge and cover all construction costs. It will also invest in local infrastructure, including a bus link and connections to electricity, water and superfast broadband.
The new low-carbon homes will feature slate roofs, granite lintels, solar panels, heat pumps and colourful timber windows. It will be built in a “traditional Cornish seaside” style, designed by Adam Architecture and local firm ALA Architects.
It is understood William wants the development to “look and feel as homely as possible” to combat the stigma of social housing. The site will also be re-landscaped and shrubs and wildflowers planted to encourage biodiversity.
Sources close to William, 41, said he wanted to “lead from the front” and encourage other landowners to build more social housing. He is said to be considering further projects on his land. The duchy is working on the project with the Cornish homelessness charity St Petrocs with the long-term aim of helping people move from temporary accommodation at Nansledan into permanent homes.
The basic idea of this reminds me so much of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right NOLA, which ended in utter catastrophe because of shoddy materials, shoddy construction and a poorly-operated organization which left homeowners twisting in the wind. It took MIR NOLA’s victims 15-17 years to get justice and any kind of compensation for how badly they were screwed over. In this case, it sounds like the Duchy of Cornwall is making rental units, correct? So at least no one will take out a mortgage. Anyway… communities always need affordable rental housing, especially in urban areas and especially in the most high-traffic tourist areas (like Cornwall). I hope this goes well and I hope William has learned his lesson about proclaiming himself to be the homelessness savior. Funny that Roya Nikkhah got this briefing straight from William and Kensington Palace but no one will talk about Kate whatsoever.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
-
- The Prince of Wales meeting refugee Mehrshad Esfandiari from Iran and Aiden Bryne manager of Hosford services (left) during a visit to the East Belfast Mission at the Skainos Centre, Belfast, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Picture date: Tuesday June 27, 2023. . William has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation a thing of the past with his initiative called Homewards. The five-year project will initially focus on six locations, to be announced during Monday and Tuesday, where local businesses, organisations and individuals will be encouraged to join forces and develop “bespoke” action plans to tackle homelessness with up to Ł500,000 in funding. Homeless. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 785623491, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
-
- Aberdeen, UK, 27 June 2023: The Prince of Wales during a visit to Tillydrone Community Campus, Aberdeen, to spotlight how co-located and joined up community support services can improve early intervention and prevent homelessness, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Prince of Wales has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation a thing of the past with his initiative called Homewards. The five-year project will initially focus on six locations, to be announced during Monday and Tuesday, where local businesses, organisations and individuals will be encouraged to join forces and develop “bespoke” action plans to tackle homelessness with up to Ł500,000 in funding. *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS ***,Image: 785635040, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Euan Duff / Avalon
-
- The Prince of Wales during a visit to Mosaic Clubhouse in Lambeth, London, which supports people living with mental health conditions across Lambeth, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 26 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales speaks with members during a visit to Mosaic Clubhouse in Lambeth, London, which supports people living with mental health conditions across Lambeth, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 26 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales speaks during a visit to Mosaic Clubhouse in Lambeth, London, which supports people living with mental health conditions across Lambeth, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 26 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales during a visit to the East Belfast Mission at the Skainos Centre, Belfast, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Belfast, United Kingdom When: 27 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales with Grainia Long, Chief Executive at Northern Ireland Housing Executive, during a visit to the East Belfast Mission at the Skainos Centre, Belfast, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Belfast, United Kingdom When: 27 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Prince of Wales during a visit to Tillydrone Community Campus, Aberdeen, to spotlight how co-located and joined up community support services can improve early intervention and prevent homelessness, as part of his tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness. Picture date: Tuesday June 27, 2023. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Aberdeen, United Kingdom When: 27 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
You have to wonder how his paying tenants in Cornwall (who aren’t even allowed to think about purchasing their own properties) feel about this. The money he makes from the duchy is off their backs. Will he be charging some type of rent from this or getting money from the government to pay for the rentals? The up-front cost to build is far from the only cost involved with maintaining these houses.
I just figured this would be money from the royal foundation.
So William has a major embiggening announcement for one of his keen projects and he can’t show up for a single photo op to try to step on Harry’s Invictus coverage?
What is going on with William? Rehab? Breakdown? Epic laziness?
*highly* doubt that on historical evidence only.
Also, “will”. When it happens, then we can see who paid for what. This is just a fluff piece trying to push him in the headlights without him doing anything, and “working” in the background, as we all know.
Again bulliam and KP proved that they are worst kids. No calculations, no plans, no concepts, nothing professional. He did nothing so far and not going to do anything in future.
Even AI also knows how bad windsors are. AI itself published a book about them. It says how Diana was killed using a MI6 and Kate is a drug addict. Daily fail covered an article regarding this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13095963/AI-books-claim-Kate-Middleton-took-drugs.html
I mean this kindly- but please tell me you’re aware that just because an AI bot “says” something does not in any way make it true?
This initiative – started by Charles in 2001 I believe – sounds excellent.
However – $3 million for 24 homes, plus needing to run electrical, water, sewer and wifi ….. that’s a pipe dream.
Announce an initiative to build 4-6 homes a year, for ten years minimum, with the kings trust donating the amount for the electricity, water etc to be run to all the sites so everything is preplanned by a developer who will be able to say – yeah sure, a slate roof – then roll his eyes and use something much more affordable and sustainable.
Harry has a docu series, William! Maybe hire film makers to make some about the project and families in need moving in!
Why the kings trust instead of the royal foundation
That was my first thought when I heard that figure. “Ok, half a dozen units is a valuable contribution but not earthshaking.” Then I heard he planned to build two dozen units for that amount and I remembered how totally unrealistic he is.
I was wondering about the rent, too. He’s building properties on his land, on which everyone pays rent to him, so—these folks, once they get on their feet, will be paying the prince? Some other entity? And I don’t know, but 3 million doesn’t sound like much to build 24 units. I guess it’s a start. As for this being a new variation on Homewards, that tracks; just like Kate, new year, new name, old initiative. I think Kate’s up to three–is it four? five?–iterations of the early years stuff. William’s got a couple more to catch up.
It doesn’t sound like a philanthropic endeavor as much a way to just get more tenants paying rent to him, even if it is at a lower market rate. It seems more like an investment for the Duchy, not a charity effort to address homelessness.
£3 million is only £124,000 per each of 24 home. And considering these are all going to have “slate roofs, granite lintels, solar panels, heat pumps and colourful timber windows,” it just is not going to happen–just as it did not happen last year when this was announced. Anyone see any dirt being moved or utilities being installed anywhere as a result of his ridiculous 2023 announcement??? Same thing this year.
Good point that this might be a scheme to build low-income rental units and somehow get the government to pay him rent.
Exactly @BeanieBean, Becks1 & JudyB. It’s subsidized housing the Duchy of Cornwall will benefit from-that’s not helping the homeless. It’s helping the Duchy of Cornwall unless he’s planning to not charge rent. LOLOLOLOOOOL. The homeless will not qualify because they don’t have income. It might help other people maybe. /s
I agree Kaiser, this project sounds/feels an awful lot like Pitts Make It Right scheme and while William’s buildings might actually continue to stand over time, I don’t see Willy’s participation in this scheme lasting more than a couple of years. Also, it feels very much like a “Harry’s got veterans, so I’ve got the homeless” vibe, being done with more of a sense of competition than compassion.
I used to work in community development and William’s plan sounds solid and well thought out. I get that William is a terrible person, but he’s engaged real professionals in something that has a lot of potential. Maybe wait until it’s built it before crapping all over the idea. Also, it’s pretty hard to be a “slumlord” over a new build.
It sounds well thought out because Charles started it in 2004 and in 2021 there were articles of the different phases in Nansdean.
He’s just taking credit for work he never did.
If it seems well thought out you can bet Willy didn’t think it up. He’s taking credit for someone else’s plan, and anyone who balances a checkbook can see that the numbers don’t add up. Three million is a pittance these days, when a tarpaper shack goes for $500 a sq/ft even in the middle of nowhere.
@Nic919 – Exactly! William is once again claiming someone else’s work as his own.
From this article I can’t tell if the project is well thought out or not, let alone solid. What I see is a description of a goal with no clarity as to funding. If William can follow through, that will be great – but I’ll wait before I give him any gold stars.
“Also, it’s pretty hard to be a “slumlord” over a new build.”
It’s not. Google Mast Quay development London.
$3 million pounds for 24units means they’re gonna use literal straw because that’s not possible especially with the price of materials and this idiot would have had stellar PR with this announcement except now his SEO is covered with stories of how he hates his brother and how he won’t let him back into the family.
re number of units. Exactly. With admin and project mgt costs added in, they;ll be lucky to get 10 units.
Making him look like a petulant little child instead of the statesman he so desperately wants to be. I do wonder who is actually in charge of their pr.
Thank you I came Here to see if others could do math. That price tag is delusional.
Maybe they’ll be tiny homes 😜
Don’t know why you’d want granite lintels on a tiny home…
A slate roof alone can cost a million bucks, let alone granite lintels. Not to mention the cost of “traditional” architectural plans. I call BS. 3 mil to build 24 units made of toothpicks and cardboard boxes, maybe. But not anything fancy or remotely cozy. And OMG does Baldy look scary with that giant insectoid head.
The slate roofs in the Benelux/ France/ Germany area are much, much cheaper. Where on earth does a slate roof go for more than €20,000? Yikes!
I think he’s going the prefab route. Connected homes and an apartment complex.
Maybe some of the labor and materials will be donated or discounted for charity? Probably giving them too much credit though.
William has never applied for a loan or made a significant purchase, he doesn’t know the value of what it cost to develop anything let alone housing development. His 3 mil won’t scratch the surface. Knowing KP, the 3 mil must be a donation to a greater cause and Willy is trying to take full credit as usual.
Only $3 million for what sounds like a homeless Disneyland? The cheapest way to build anything is a square box; every other luxe detail costs big time. I can appreciate that Burger King wants to be seen as doing something more than selling that homeless paper on the street, but half of that three mil would be eaten up in labor costs. And I’m confused about the fast broadband. Are these units for real homeless people who also have Mac laptops? Or are these affordable housing units for the working poor?
Not just fast, it’s superfast! Sorry, but in my part of the US it’s called high-speed internet. ‘Superfast’ cracked me up! Good question, though; who is this housing really for? Are there connected programs we don’t know about? Because for good or ill, pretty much everything in life is tied to the internet in some manner or other.
In the UK there’s a huge number of working poor who are homeless – 125,000 children live in temporary accommodation, for example. Conservative “austerity”, Liz Truss tanking the economy, the current cost of living crisis and of course, the effects of Covid mean that it’s now perfectly possible to be working two jobs and still need to use foodbanks.
Broadband, and particularly fast broadband, is a necessity like electricity these days. I’m not sure what you mean by “real homeless people who also have Mac laptops” but the idea that someone who’s homeless wouldn’t have or need decent broadband is wrong on so many levels.
Well, Pegs can’t be outdone by Harry. As long as people benefit from this, whatever the motive for getting off his lazy butt.
Although I agree with your main point, 3 million pounds is a pittance compared to the astonishing total estimated fortune by Forbes of the royal British family: 28 billion pounds! So 3 millions pounds is like a crum you would throw to a bird.
This reminds me of the villian in Austin Powers. Where he thinks that trying to extort people for a few million is this huge deal. Because he didn’t know inflation had kicked in. William thinks that the public views 3 million as this giant amount. The same thing with Earthshot. He’s barely giving anything away.
Rental units? How will rental units help the homeless who have no jobs to pay the rent? Will Peg help these people get jobs? 24 units is not going to solve the homeless problem. To me it sounds more like low income housing but again usually homeless people don’t have jobs so this would not help them. I don’t know it all sounds fishy to me.
This was my question too. Some unhoused people do have jobs, but they don’t make enough money to afford rent. I don’t know the rental situation in Cornwall, but where I live in the States even a one bedroom flat goes for more than $1200 per month rent. Is William going to subsidize the rents and in perpetuity? It’s unclear to me who these units are really for.
Maybe he plans to have them build their own homes? since 3 mil for 24 homes does not leave enough for paying construction wages.
Question for the UK CB readers: When my friend & her family moved to England several years ago, they rented a house. In their rental agreement it listed that the RENTERS pay the Real Estate Tax (I can’t remember the correct Uk tax name). I was shocked because in the USA (or the state that I live) landlords pay the tax. What’s the situation in the UK right now? I can not imagine how the unhousing people have to pay both rent & house tax.
Don’t fool yourself. Renters in the US are paying real estate tax, only it’s built into the amount of the rent. The only difference is who gets to write the check.
Do you mean council tax? Yeah, council tax is paid by the person living in a home. It’s to pay for local services like roads and hospitals, so it wouldn’t make sense to make someone who doesn’t live in the area pay. You pay your own local council.
In the UK we have the last struggling remnants of a welfare state: part of the taxes we pay go to provide a safety net for people who can’t work. Depending on your circumstances, you can qualify for a range of benefits: jobseeker’s allowance, which is exactly what it sounds like; housing benefit, which covers or subsidises your rent; child benefit; benefits if you’re disabled or too ill to work. These aren’t huge amounts of money (the benefits never keep pace with inflation, and the Conservative government makes it as difficult as possible to claim these) but of course they’re not nothing, either.
The thing is, to claim these you need to have an address. So if you’re unhoused you’re also cut off from the support system that can help you get back on your feet. There’s a chronic shortage of housing in the UK – whether that’s people living on the street, in temporary accommodation (which includes cheap hotels), or couch-surfing. It’s not just an urban problem either; there’s a lot of rural poverty and Cornwall’s housing market is bonkers partly because of the number of people wanting to buy second homes there. 24 units is, as my granny used to say, better than a poke in the eye.
(Of course, if William and Charles really wanted to help end homelessness they could redevelop a few of their own family’s properties…)
This housing idea came about because when Prince William affair was trending on Twitter, he threw a tantrum and it got changed to Prince William affordable housing.
And it emerges again now because everyone criticizes him for being lazy and absent..his team had to make him look like he’s working…not to mention, to deflect from stories and questions about Kate’s disappearance..
If you google Prince William affordable housing you get info about projects in Prince William County, Virginia.
Just 3 million? I need to see the actual numbers because with all the attributes he wants those houses to have he’ll be able to build maybe 4 houses.
I’m starting to think, this is some other entity’s project–and their money–for which they were able to successfully petition the Duchy for the use of the land & some funding, hence the low amount. William’s just claiming the credit.
Sounds like Willy has £3M stuck on the brain. First he was going to give out grants totaling £3M to solve homelessness. Now it’s changed to a totally different type of project to solve homelessness, but Willy’s still sticking with only £3M he’s willing to commit, despite the fact he’s improving property on his own rent rolls.
I’m dubious about this project. Are all these houses going to homeless people? Is this his attempt to get the homeless out of London? And are people going to get to own these homes? If he’s renting these houses it means that he’s going to profit from the homeless he’s trying to help. Plus £3 million doesn’t sound like enough money for a housing project. It’s also interesting that William made this announcement just after Harry spent the last 3 days in Vancouver.
Anything is this housing project really to provide workers for the Duchy estate and people who have second homes in Cornwall? Charles’ Prince’s Foundation was set up primarily for him to purchase Dumfries House and the supposed training courses are really to get servants for the property.
I was wondering about that 🤔..the article mentions that he has overseen plans to construct the 24 homes in Cornwall to be ready next year…3 m for 24 homes? Did I understand correctly?
Fuzzy math.
He is overseeing plans Charles set in motion years ago. Even if he went hard core on Sept 8 2022 to start this project, there is no way a building project like this would be ready to start construction in less than 2 years.
It’s not clear how the £3 million figures into this. Providing the land, building 24 homes, investing in infrastructure, bus lines, etc. It seems like a low number.
The land you could strike out costs on because it’s already some owned by the duchy. I wonder how much of the rest will be donated by others or government funded. So PW comes out to the good with more houses to own and lease on the land he will retain ownership of.
I’m not just questioning the cost, but the description of it being a “3 million social housing development,” which would imply that’s the total cost of the entire project. The donated land has a value, outside donations have value, government grants have value – so is he putting up 3 million of his own money along with the land? Is he only counting the value of the land? And why is the 3 million number the same as that of his prior failed project of small grants? Is 3 million all he’s prepared to spend out of his foundation, no matter what the project costs?
Eurydice, even with excluding the cost of land, in order to develop the property with infrastructure, I don’t see how this amount would be enough for 24 housing units. Developing land with utilities isn’t cheap. I ASSUME that someone has drawn up the development, so they have a plan in place.
Eurydice, you are right about the amount being so vague. Did he scrap the previous project or is it another 3 million? Is it for homeless or low income people? Also, 4 bedroom units sound quite big to maintain. Is it for homeless families of 5 or more? Or groups of homeless people can apply to share one 4-bedroom unit?
Not a penny will come from his pocketbook. Stingy Will has a plan for others to bear the cost while he collects the rent. Call me a pessimist but his past behavior is a good indicator of future behavior. Once these homes are built on HIS land, they become his property.
It’s a nice idea but there is nothung about this that will solve homelessness. Building 24 homes will ‘solve’ homelessness for about 50 people, in an area which has become the tourist and second-homes capital of England. To make a real difference Wills needs to do this on all the duchy owned land in the country. Otherwise it’s just virtue signalling.
Even if his interest is genuine (which I don’t believe it is), he still has to start somewhere. So, if he were serious (which I don’t believe he is), this could become a template for other similar projects on duchy land.
So true. And would it even “solve” anything for people who have no income? Unless he’ll be letting people live there for free, it really doesn’t help the homeless.
Even if there is no rent and taxes are waivered, a 4 br unit costs a lot to maintain when it comes to heating and electricity.
In THEORY, this all sounds good, but a lot can happen between concept & execution.
I think he should increase the budget if he wants to make a genuine impact. He can afford it; take it out of Kitty’s 2024 clothes budget ;-).
£3m / 24 properties averages out at £125k, which I don’t think will get you far in Newquay. I did a search for properties up to £125k within a 3 mile radius on Rightmove, and I’m getting results for caravans, holiday homes, studios and 1-beds.
This is being dropped now because many folk are questioning what is he good for as a, gone missing from day job B, no one believes he is tending Kate so they have to come up with something that makes him look like he is making a contribution to society behind the scenes. His fan base according to DM comments always add that he is very hands on behind the scenes?
Hands on what though? His wife and whatever bottles he crawls out from to sway and blink in public.
Yeah it does feel like this was timed so that the press can talk about something other than William attending galas and awards these days. It looks like this was just a press release to make it look like he’s been working? He barely works in public; why would anyone believe he’s working hard behind the scenes. Making people think you’re working hard is literally the whole royal grift.
And if William was actually working hard and had projects he was invested in, he and the people in his office wouldn’t have so much time and effort to spare for briefing against Harry.
He expects to build 24 high quality homes on £3m? Ok. This is definitely MIR again. Also, the range is weird. 4 bedrooms or 1? Most families don’t need 4 and most need more than 1. It would seem smarter to make more 2-3 bedrooms.
Well the nanny needs a bedroom too!/s
I thought the 4 BR or 1 BR options odd, too! I watch a lot of HGTV, lately My Lottery Dream Home, and so many people are looking for 3/2s; i.e., 3BR, 2 bath. And I realize there are homeless families, but families that large? Is that what their demographic research told them?
I just commented the same upthread. 1br small homes sound sensible for one homeless person or couples, even roommates, and 2-3 br for families. But 4 br costs a lot to build and heat. Who is going to help them maintain those homes?
4 BR raised my eyebrow. That’s a lot of house.
I’m wondering if this is some type of ‘trickle down’ housing where the rich can have these new houses while the poors can have whatever they don’t want.
He won’t do a thing
Seconded!
But where is Kate?
Kate? Kate who?……(William, probably)
They can probably build 30 units since there would be no land cost. The big question is did he kill the 3 million he announced for homeless grants to pay for this. If so, what a cheapskate. Typical of the royals.
GMH, well, they MIGHT be able to build very basic and small houses for that amount. I think it would be rather nice to include utilities going to each home. That ain’t cheap.
These houses should also be environmentally sound given W’s ES initiative. Can that be done with £3m for 24 units?
Too bad Pegs will make a mess of this when he could start a nice modest test effort, getting contractors to pitch in at cost, solar panel providers, broadband providers, etc. but the handlers want to pump up the press coverage to make Pegs look like a major player and philanthropist without putting up any real cash to do it. So different from how H&M have been doing things to great effect.
There have been projects for that part of the duchy set up by Charles years before. A few articles in 2021 explain the work that will be done in Nansledan. I have seen an architectural story in 2021 and something from Nansledan directly.
William just got Lee to find him some nonsense and the rota are regurgitating it without question.
3 million is nothing to William anyway and it won’t cover any real building project.
So, just to make sure I understand, his income from rent in Cornwall is around £24 million per year, and he’s investing £3 million of that to build 24 units of different sizes. That does seem low, especially if they are including heat pumps and solar panels. Maybe he can get his Tory buddies in government to give him some tax credits to help.
But I presume William will be collecting rents on all of these new units once they are built, right? So this is hardly a charitable endeavor. It’s a massive expansion to his own portfolio that will add significant value to land he already owns. I’m also going to guess that because he owns the Duchy, getting planning permissions might be a lot easier.
As an aside, if he succeeds in getting highspeed broadband, transit links, and the like to this area, that will likely increase rents from the other tenants.
I’m certainly not opposed to developers creating more environmentally sustainable housing and services, far from it: But let’s not pretend it’s charitable!
I saw someone on Twitter call these heir bnb’s. I don’t know if she is on here too but if she is it’s pure gold😂😂
Haha, Heir BNB’s! That’s amazing 👏
All credit to DLL on twitter
The county of Cornwall is the 2nd poorest in the region of the WHOLE of Northern Europe. Teheran used to qualify for over € 1billion funding from the EU each year, the county voted 56% for Brexit and have declined even further. I would imagine that this money is a small percentage of partnership funding- but hey let Peg be the saviour of homelessness. 🤡
Where do you get this information? I think you are wrong.
Isn’t Peg still a patron for Centrepoint? Is he doing anything for them? Where’s Keen?
3million doesn’t seem much for 24houses what about roads . Poor employment in some parts of Cornwall due to rich Londoner’s buying up houses as second homes. Lack of shops as well as locals have had to leave the area. It’s all well and good saying they will build houses but the area needs more that houses .It needs other amenities to make it a community.
24 houses is solving the homeless problems? I don’t understand, just like LA Mayor thinking buying up a few hotels is going to solve CA homeless problems. How long before he gets it done? He can’t even leave his house as he has to take his kids to school.
What does “connections to electricity, water and super fast broadband” even mean? I’m not from the UK and only realized through following Harry and Meghan that central air conditioning isn’t the norm in the UK, so I’m curious if I’m missing something when they say connections to things that are normally part of any home that is built here in the US?
Is he now not the largest land owner in Cornwall, so why is he expecting those who actually pay for their land and actually work to offer their own land to build more houses for the homeless? I mean, if him being the richest of all of them, is only willing to fork over $3 million for only 24 homes, what exactly is he expecting from those less fortunate to do?
I think it would mean that the proposed site isn’t developed enough to have hook-ups to basic resources. It’s the same with any housing development – the land is parceled off, streets are built, town or city water is brought in, the sewer system is connected, the electric company strings lines or whatever, etc. The homes are built and then hooked up.
And, Eurydice, all of that is expensive. Someone is proud of that $3,000,000 amount, but it’s not going to do what they say it will.
@Saucy&Sassy – yes, that’s why I question the description as a 3 million housing development. It seems that William will be contributing 3 million for something – the land, some construction costs, fees to architects and designers, who knows – and he’ll be using the money earmarked from his prior project (maybe it will come from his foundation and maybe not) but someone else will have to come up with the rest. But it will definitely be a much greater million housing development.
I’m chuckling because the houses are described as “homely”. In Canada homely means plain bordering on ugly. Over here we use ‘homey’ for what I think they mean by homely.
Teagirl, same in the US. I agree that homey is what they mean by homely.
Reminds me of how “overlooked” has an almost opposite meaning in the uk than in the USA.
All I’m going to say is, Cornwall is beset by the problems of second home owners and thousands of air bnb properties; overwhelmed in summer with tourists and weekenders, but lights out and empty homes come winter. Empty homes that local families are desperate for. An infrastructure wrecked by the huge influx of seasonal visitors. Businesses finding it difficult to house their employees. So, the idea is good. How he goes about it and fundamentally if this ever gets done is another question. There are so many ideas he bangs on about – nothing happens. I’m as guilty as anyone – we summer holiday in Cornwall or Devon most years, with an abroad holiday at Christmas/Easter. It’s a truly beautiful area.
As someone who has frequently had to live & work where people like to vacation–winter or summer–I can attest to how difficult it is to find housing. And not just affordable housing, but housing of any kind.
Here’s a good article on the arcane and murky rules and regulations the BRF uses to their advantage whilst preventing most of the Duchy residents from purchasing homes or long-term leases. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/09/prince-charles-vetted-laws-that-stop-his-tenants-buying-their-homes
OMG! does William have any original ideas of his own? How is this new proposal any different from what Charles, the then Prince of Wales, did with Poundbury? I’m no fan of Charles’ but at least his intent was sincere, given his interest in architecture. William has never demonstrated any passion for anything, other than besting his brother. The whole save the homeless campaign was developed by KP to help William compete, at a time when Harry was grabbing headlines for his lawsuits against the tabloids. So no surprise that he’s quickly abandoned that effort. Just like his mid-east peace endeavor, this was never a sincerely held position. He makes an announcement, grabs headlines, then shows nothing by way of action to implement the project. Where would Invictus or Sentebale be today if Harry was this fickle?
I hope they at least do not follow Poundbury’s “no traffic signs” rule, so that deadly accidents can be prevented.
But then again, why do I worry? This is just a new pie-in-the-sky scheme to harvest a few headlines with praise for the scrapbook “See What I did To Make The World A Better Place”.
FK please keep that face away from young children, it’s not good for their sleep!??
Now, I live in cornwall and I cry bullsht! Every year Newquay makes a fortune from tourists, and surfing championships. If (and it’s a big if) these houses ever get built we can all guess what will happen to them. I’m now where I used to live in St Germans, property didn’t go to the people who NEEDED it, it went to people who knew people.,and those who helped with the fair and litfest. I also know that 3 million WON’T build that many homes, not in cornwall and especially places like Newquay! The accessibility alone will cause major problems and that adds to cost, and a lot of land in that area still does not have mains electricity easily wired in. In St Germans a village only 2 miles of the main A38 there was no gas at all. So willy, stop promising the same 3 million for different projects, because none of them come to fruition, and just look at the problems your father had with his little eco village!oh and let’s not forget fault lines from tin mining
Hi Mary. I recall you live in Cornwall. I’m in the UK and holiday there/Devon most summers. The roads are clagged up and damaged, the shop and cafe owners tell me their staff can’t find places to live, families trying to stay where they grew up are feeling it most of all. There are airbnbs everywhere. I’m giving up on it because I feel part of the problem. What will happen with this project – well, I can see the houses ending up in the hands of those who have the most money, at some point pretty quickly reached. And then they’ll second home them. And off it goes again. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of how to handle housing in this area.
Hi Sparrow, next time your in cornwall let me know, and if I’m not pushing up daisies then you will be welcome for a cream tea 😊
Thank you, Mary! That’s so lovely. Yes, indeed, it’d be great.
He’ll make money from this plain and simple, read the attached article:
https://www.republic.org.uk/duchy_of_cornwall_housing_spin_over_substance_campaigners
An obvious and intelligent way for William to start anything on that subject would be to talk with his Tory friends currently governing the country. Their previous home secretary (Suella Braverman) said that homelessness was a lifestyle choice and there wasn’t that must of a pushback so perhaps William savior of the homeless could start there.
I know homelessness and lack of affordable housing are related, but it sounds like this is an affordable housing project. And I add my voice to the people asking what happened to the other housing the homeless project announced less than a year ago? Is he using the same money? Is this same money going to used for numerous projects down the road that never get built. Will there be a sod-turning ceremony? Is this William’s Early Years?
You know, they could always dissolve and end the entire wasteful and parasitical monarchy to begin with in England . Redistribute the wealth, the buildings and the land currently under the ownership of the monarchy to the British civilians who are living in poverty and those barely surviving or making ends meet, having to choose between heat or food? How about that?
Just want to say that a previous Prince of Wales, think it would be Edward VII built an extensive housing estate in South London. By the 1970s they were among London’s worst slums.