Run and operated by the St Ives Community Land Trust, this project will see the renovation of the Old Vicarage building to provide 6 high quality and affordable flats for local residents in the heart of the town.
“So much of the news is taken up with report after report on the lack of affordable homes. This project aims to make a small start to change that by providing homes for locals in town. St Ives CLT is ready and we now await the Town Deal funding to complete the project. Its inclusion in the list of projects shows recognition by the government of how important this issue is to people in St Ives. Let’s now get on and finish the flats so people can be living in them.”
You can find out more about the project on the CLT website: https://www.stivesclt.org.uk/
LATEST PROJECT NEWS
April 2026
The discovery of the structural issue with the party wall between the Old Vicarage Flats and the Guildhall side extension has led to delays with this project, as well as with the Guildhall project.
Following the successful installation of the steelwork and completion of the ground works by Classic Builders, it is anticipated that work will resume on the project in the Spring.
Known originally as the Parsonage and built in the late 1830’s, the building was home to the Vicars of St Ives until the early 1950’s when Canon Jenkin moved into a newly constructed vicarage off St Andrew’s Street.
The building was then taken over by St Ives Borough Council who converted the upper stories into four flats while the ground floor was owned by Cornwall County Council and used by a number of local organisations, including a nursery, the local WI and camera club.
The Old Vicarage lay empty from 2016 until the local community through the St Ives Community Land Trust raised the funds to buy the property in 2019 with the aim of rescuing the historic building and converting it to provide much needed affordable homes for the local community.
The Truro are very aware of the importance of preserving this historic building and have worked closely with the architects to retain as many of the original features as possible. These include the sash windows and the beautiful banister.
This has been a real community-led project, with more than £240,000 raised through the community share issue in 2019, along with many individual donations and via mortgage with Triodos Bank. The Trust has also been supported by the Architectural Heritage Fund, Homes England, Cornwall Community Land Trust, St Ives Town Council, a range of charitable groups, and a number of local organisations such as the Rotary Club. Earlier this year they were awarded £750,000 from St Ives Town Deal Fund. This grant is funding the refurbishment works.
They are continuing to encourage further financial support to enable the Trust to look further into advances in technology to get Smart delivery systems for utilities and services in order to keep costs as low as possible for future tenants.
