Royal support to tackle Scilly housing crisis
PA MediaPeople living on a remote island archipelago say the construction of 10 new homes for key workers is a "big step forward".
Housing leaders on the Isles of Scilly say some healthcare and education workers have to live in tents over the summer because of sky-high house prices and lack of rental properties.
The project, supported by Prince William in his role as Duke of Cornwall, will offer long-term rentals to help people afford to live on the islands.
The prince commented: "Our ambition is to create opportunities for communities to truly live well, now and for generations to come."
Duchy of CornwallNathan Dean from The Duchy of Cornwall lives on the main island of St Mary's and is overseeing the building project, in an area called Telegraph.
He said: "People come here and often they're in temporary accommodation going from one short term holiday let to the next.
"Some people even have to camp at the camping site during the peak season because many people in the islands need to rent their houses out to holidaymakers."
'Some hard choices to make'
Dean added: "We're building 10 here up at Telegraph but there's more to do, we've identified some more land and the ambition is to build 20 more."
"We expect them to be finished in January and then there's the task of selecting the tenants, thankfully that's not down to me because there's so much demand so I imagine someone will have some hard choices to make."
Tim DeanTim Dean is the cabinet member for housing on the Council of the Isles of Scilly
"Four years ago I declared a housing crisis because several families nearly had to leave the islands because they couldn't make things work," he said.
"I don't blame families for renting out houses or spare rooms during the peak season but it makes it incredibly hard for healthcare or education workers.
"This development is a big step forward but there's still a lot of work to do to make this a sustainable place to live."
PA MediaFollowing the visit to the Isles of Scilly and Nansledan in Cornwall the day before, William posted on social media about changes to how the Duchy of Cornwall was operating.
"We are evolving what it means to be a landowner, moving from passive stewardship towards a more active contribution, with social and environmental purpose at its heart," he wrote.
"This represents a clear shift in our strategy. There is much more to do, and we are investing as quickly as we can while balancing a number of priorities, but our direction is clear."
He added: "Our ambition is to create opportunities for communities to truly live well, now and for generations to come.
"We're on a journey, we're not suggesting we have everything right today, but our direction is clear: to place social and environmental purpose at the heart of how we evolve and what we do."
The properties are timber framed and will have solar panels and electric vehicle charging points.
Spencer Quick runs SJ Quick and Sons, a Penzance building company that is the main contractor on the project, and said: "It's a serious but fun challenge building something here, you certainly don't want to run out of screws because everything has to come here by boat.
"We have to stockpile materials at a nearby barn, our diggers and bigger equipment had to come over on landing craft.
"And it's not just the stuff we also have to get workers here, we prefer to get multiskilled people and they work 12 hour days and seven days a week to make it worth their while, after a seven day stint they get a well deserved few days off.
"This winter was particularly difficult because of the consistent rain and on top of that the cargo ship was out of service for a while so there were some frustrations but the finishing line is in sight and it's great working on these beautiful islands."
