LiveWest housing association has announced that it has entered into contract with Nevada Construction Limited to build 27 new social rented homes at Carn Thomas on St Mary’s. You can read this announcement in full on the LiveWest website.
The development will comprise 12 one-bedroom homes, 10 two-bedroom homes and five three-bedroom homes, designed specifically to meet the islands’ housing needs and achieve high environmental standards.
Image 1: Graphic of LiveWest Housing Association's design for an affordable housing development at Carn Thomas on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. Credit: LiveWest.
The Council transferred the land at Carn Thomas to LiveWest in March 2023 in order to enable the much-needed affordable housing development and has worked closely with LiveWest and Homes England to help progress the project to this stage.
Cllr Tim Dean, Lead Member for Housing and Corporate Estate, Council of the Isles of Scilly welcomed the announcement, commenting: “I’m thrilled to finally be able to share this exciting news with the community. In my eight years as a Councillor, and particularly since becoming Lead Member for Housing and Corporate Estate, I’ve seen a huge amount of effort and perseverance go into making this development a reality. I can’t thank our officers and partner organisations enough for their tenacity in the face of some really significant challenges over the years. Seeing the site developed for the benefit of the islands as a whole will be a wonderful reward for those who never lost faith in this project, and I can’t wait to see the positive impact the new properties will have on individuals, families, businesses and services within our community.”
The project received funding from the UK Government, through the Land Release Fund. This supported upfront works to enable new homes to come forward. Paul Britton, South West Lead at One Public Estate commented: “Unlocking council land and delivering new homes is crucial across the country. What makes this development so special is that it will provide 100% affordable homes to help meet local demand.”
Image 2: Satellite image showing the area covered by LiveWest's designs for an affordable housing development at Carn Thomas on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. Credit: LiveWest.
Next steps
Large construction plant and equipment will be arriving on the island during the next couple of weeks as Nevada Construction Limited commences the main excavation, rock breaking and earthworks required to prepare the site for construction.
If you have any questions about the work on site, please contact the Nevada Construction Limited team directly at carnthomas@nevadaconstruction.co.uk
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Further funding information
The One Public Estate (OPE) programme is a partnership between the Office of Government Property in the Cabinet Office, the Local Government Association and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). It provides practical and technical support and funding for public sector partners to deliver ambitious property-led programmes.
Since 2017, OPE has partnered with MHCLG to deliver the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) and its predecessor the Land Release Fund (LRF). The capital funding supports the release of council-owned land for housing, contributing to the UK Government’s mission for 1.5m homes by the end of this Parliament.
