William lays groundwork on £3m social housing project

THE Prince of Wales will forge ahead with a £3 million social housing plan for his Cornwall estate in an effort to tackle homelessness.

William is looking to have 24 new homes built by next year and will look to offer high-quality accommodation in the area as it has one of the highest levels of severe homelessness in Britain.

Four-bedroom houses and one-bedroom flats are included in the development in Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay, which he unveiled last year in an interview with

Sources close to the Prince, 41, indicated he wanted to “lead from the front” and urged landowners to follow suit. He is understood to be looking at further schemes for the Duchy of Cornwall, whose 130,000-acre property empire covers Cornwall to Kent.

The low-carbon homes will be developed in a “traditional Cornish seaside” style, designed by Adam Architecture and local firm ALA Architects.

As the Duke of Cornwall, the Prince earns an income through the duchy and during the 2022-23 recorded profits of £24 million leading him to offer to cover the construction costs of the builds and the land free of charge.

Investment will also be made in local infrastructure, including electricity, water and superfast broadband along with a bus link. The Prince wants the development to “look and feel as homely as possible” in a bid to tackle the stigma around social housing and he also is looking to encourage biodiversity by taking the step of adding shrubs and re-landscaping the area.

Work is being carried out on the scheme in conjunction with Cornish homelessness charity St Petrocs and aims to offer a host of “wraparound services” including mental health support.

The scheme is designed to help people move from temporary accommodation into permanent homes in what Kensington Palace said was the duchy’s “first innovative housing project to help address homelessness”.