Six St Ives flats edge closer after Old Vicarage deal

Seven years ago, a small band of St Ives residents took on a Victorian building nobody else wanted, using money raised from their own community to buy it back from years of neglect. Now, with a fresh funding partner on board, the six affordable homes they set out to create are finally within reach.

A deal to finish the job

The plan to turn the Old Vicarage in St Ives into six affordable flats for local people has reached what its backers are calling a key milestone, after a new agreement between St Ives Community Land Trust and community housing provider Three Seas Cornwall, supported by St Ives Town Deal.

Under the deal, Three Seas will take on the freehold of the building and gain access to Homes England funding, together with additional funding from Cornwall Council’s Land Remediation Fund. The final build period is expected to take no more than six months, backed by a short-term finance loan from Resonance Community Developers.

From vicar’s parsonage to Community Rooms

Known originally as the Parsonage and built in the late 1830s, the building on Street-an-Pol was home to the Vicars of St Ives until the early 1950s, when Canon Jenkin moved into a newly built vicarage off St Andrew’s Street. St Ives Borough Council then converted the upper storeys into four flats, while the ground floor, owned by Cornwall County Council, was used as Community Rooms by a string of local groups, including a camera club, various church Sunday schools, the local WI, a day nursery and other events.

The Old Vicarage then lay empty from 2016 until 2019, when the local community, through St Ives Community Land Trust, raised the funds to buy the property with the aim of rescuing the historic building and converting it into affordable homes for the local community.

Knotweed, old burials and running out of money

The Trust raised community funds and loans to buy the building and, with a large grant from St Ives Town Deal to fund its redevelopment, worked hard to get it refurbished. Along the way it had extra challenges and complications to overcome, from knotweed to unknown old burials discovered in the garden, but its efforts persisted until the available funds came to an end. The Trust is pleased with the successful redevelopment of the upper storeys and had been looking forward to the final construction stage.

“We’re really pleased to have agreed a deal with Three Seas that will bring in the final funds needed to complete the job and get these flats open for local people,” said Jill Block from the CLT. “It’s a really good example of how community groups can be stronger when we come together.”

What Three Seas brings to the table

Three Seas Cornwall said it was delighted to be involved in the project. “Our access to the Government money, which is aimed at exactly this kind of project, means that we can fill the gap and get the homes ready,” said Three Seas Manager Simon Ryan.

“The great news is that these will be secure Social Rent tenancies, so really and truly affordable, and available only to local people with a strong connection to the town. We’ll take on the long-term management of the flats and retain them as local homes in perpetuity.”

📷St Ives Mayor Andrew Mitchell, Simon Ryan, Tom Crook (Resonance), Cornwall Councillor Peter La Broy, Portfolio Holder for Housing, and Matthew Hayter, Keith Jones, Jill Block and Martha Patrick from St Ives Community Land Trust.

Wide backing for the scheme

Andrew Baragnawith, Chair of St Ives Town Deal Board, welcomed the new agreement, saying it would not only secure the future of the project and deliver the much-needed new affordable homes but would also preserve a historic building in the centre of the town.

“One of the key aims of our Town Deal programme is to help provide more affordable homes for local people and we have been working closely with the St Ives Community Land Trust and Cornwall Council to support the funding needed to complete this project,” he said. “I am delighted that an agreement has been reached with Three Seas Cornwall and look forward to seeing the first tenants moving into their new homes in due course.”

Councillor Luke Rodgers, Cornwall Councillor for St Ives East, Lelant and Carbis Bay, also backed the project. “I am acutely aware of the severe shortage of affordable and social housing available to local people within our communities,” he said. “The lack of accessible housing for residents with strong local connections continues to place significant pressure on families, young people and key workers who wish to remain living and working within the area.

“It is, therefore, extremely encouraging to see projects such as this progressing, particularly where existing buildings can be refurbished and brought back into long-term sustainable use for the benefit of local residents. The proposal to secure six homes for permanent Social Rent would make a meaningful contribution towards addressing local housing need within St Ives.”

Andrew George MP added his support too. “I strongly support the work of St Ives CLT, including the monumental effort made to deliver affordable homes for locals at the Old Vicarage Flats,” he said. “I recognise that to ensure this development can be completed, with all the benefits that these affordable homes will bring to the community, it is best to transfer to Three Seas Cornwall which, as a Registered Provider, is better placed to complete the project and secure Homes England funding.

“I look forward to seeing these flats completed and serving the purpose for which they were designed, as good quality homes for locals who need them, in the heart of the town.”

Tom Crook, Senior Investment Manager at Resonance, said the project showed what could be achieved when local communities, public sector partners and specialist housing providers worked together to overcome challenges and deliver lasting social impact. “We are delighted to provide the catalytic finance that has helped unlock the final stage of the development, enabling six genuinely affordable homes to be delivered for local people in the heart of St Ives,” he said. “This project is a powerful example of how targeted investment can help turn ambitious community-led housing schemes into reality, and we look forward to seeing it completed and welcoming its first residents in 2027.”

A specialist in rescuing empty buildings

Three Seas is a small independent housing provider in Cornwall, founded in 2023. It describes itself as a community cooperative, owned by its shareholding members, and is a Registered Provider of Social Housing, which allows it to access housing grants from Homes England.

The organisation says its niche is taking on moribund housing stock and brownfield sites for refurbishment into secure, low-rent housing for local people in their own communities. Its current project list will create 51 secure, low-rent homes in four communities, and it says it is finding viable sites everywhere, including in high-value holiday destinations where rented housing has often disappeared under higher-profit holiday lets and second homes.

When might the flats be ready?

If all goes to plan, the flats should be ready to welcome tenants from early 2027, though the organisers are aware that timetables can slip and say plans will need to stay flexible. Full announcements on the housing availability will be made nearer the time.

📷Simon Ryan from Three Seas Cornwall and Matthew Hayter, Chair of St Ives Community Land Trust.