WORK is taking shape in Nansledan on the Duchy of Cornwall’s first ever housing project to directly address homelessness.

The innovative low carbon project is being delivered alongside Cornish charity St Petrocs below Newquay Sports Centre and will provide 24 high quality homes with wrap around support for local people experiencing homelessness.

The first phase comprises high quality temporary accommodation for 16 individuals, with two four-bedroomed homes and eight one-bedroomed apartments. Completion is anticipated by Spring 2026.

Land for the homes is being provided by the Duchy of Cornwall as part of its Nansledan development. The Duchy is using its design and development management expertise to guide the delivery of the project, which is being built by one of Nansledan’s housebuilders, CG Fry & Son.

The project harnesses guidance from Prince William and The Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme, of which The Duchy is an Activator partner, which aims to demonstrate it is possible to end homelessness. As well as being involved in the design of this project, Homewards is also evaluating the work to share learnings with the six Homewards locations across the UK who are also designing Innovative Housing Projects as part of the five year programme. Construction is being funded by The Duke of Cornwall’s Charitable Foundation.

St Petrocs, which has been working in Cornwall for 40 years, will manage the scheme and help residents access wrap around support, build community connections through training and employment and ultimately find permanent accommodation. They will also work with local organisations such as the neighbouring community hub, Newquay Orchard.

Under the Duchy of Cornwall’s direction, the homes are being built to exacting low carbon standards both for the embodied carbon involved in their construction and the amount of carbon involved in running them, so that future costs for St Petrocs and environmental impact can be kept to a minimum.

The project will pilot a range of low carbon building materials and techniques. For the foundations of the new homes, ultra low carbon cement with a carbon footprint about one sixth of that of traditional cement is being used through a partnership of UK company CemBlend and Cornish aggregates company Maen Karne. The groundworks contractor on the project is Steve Hoskin Construction.

Sydenhams Timber Engineering is providing the timber frames for the development in partnership with cleantech company GRWN Group. The system includes pre-fabricated panels packed with industrial hemp insulation grown in the UK to create a super-insulated shell that requires very little heating or cooling. The homes will be all-electric and feature roof-mounted solar panels.

The scheme follows the number of people who died while homeless in the UK reaching a record high last year, according to new figures.

The Museum of Homelessness, which compiles the data, said that 1,611 homeless people died in 2024.

The figure is nine per cent higher than the year before, with the majority of deaths being linked to suicide or drugs, with spice and nitazines becoming increasingly deadly.

The data is collated using information from coroner's courts, media coverage, family testimony and Freedom of Information requests. The government no longer publishes official data on the numbers of deaths of homeless people.