‘It’s a mess!’ George Clarke lashes out at ‘broken housing system’ in new Instagram post

George Clarke lays out plan to renovate historic coachhouse

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George Clarke’s new show Remarkable Renovations on Channel 4 has been a major hit over the last few weeks. The show sees architect George meet Britons who are creating homes out of buildings that previously had a different use. Last week, he met a Staffordshire couple who renovated an abandoned 19th-century coach house into a stunning family home.

This week, George will be travelling to West Yorkshire to meet a couple who are planning to transform a former police station into a spectacular home.

George often shares his views, projects and insights on social media with his fans.

Yesterday, George hit out at the Government’s “broken” housing system on his Instagram account after it was announced new “Bunkabins” for single homeless individuals are being installed in Cornwall Council’s New County Hall car park in Truro.

George posted a photo of the new “Bunkabins”.

He captioned the photo: “This demonstrates just how broken our housing system is….it’s a mess….and the Government is making out that everything is just fine and they are doing a fantastic job building over 200,000 homes per year…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by George Clarke (@mrgeorgeclarke)

“But are they the right homes, in the right places for those who need them most?

“Clearly not….BUNKABINS FFS!?!?!?! #HousingCrisis #Homeless #Homelessness” [sic]

The post was inundated with responses from fans who agreed with the property expert.

One person said: “There are so many buildings un-used that could be transformed now.”

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Another user agreed: “Absolute shambles. We need affordable rented housing in towns and villages or who else will be available to work in service industries and health and social care.”

A third replied: “Awful and a shockingly bad name.

“There is a homeless crisis here in Cornwall but I don’t think this is right.”

A fourth said: “Definitely not! I live in Cornwall and whilst I was lucky enough to find rented accommodation I will forever be stuck in this cycle – affordable housing feels like it’s a myth.

“And with droves of people moving to Cornwall it’s only going to become even less achievable for local people who can’t afford the massive five to seven percent hike in the house prices.

“I work full time and yet the cost of living makes it impossible to save for a deposit -and so time time ticks away at speed with very little option for people like myself!”

The 18 new temporary homes are meant for single homeless people and are being installed in Cornwall Council’s New County Hall car park in Truro.

The cabins are set to be completed in August once existing portable cabins have been demolished.

The “Bunkabins” are self-contained and include basic cooking and shower facilities.

In June, Cornwall Council announced that it was planning to end the use of hotels and short term accommodation for housing those in urgent need, according to Cornwall Live.

This reportedly costs a whopping £6million each year.

The New County Hall cabins are the first to be rolled out with other sites expected to follow.

They will supplement the existing temporarily accommodation used by Cornwall Council.

The council is also in the process of buying and refurbishing more than 100 homes for families to use as medium-term accommodation.

The council’s portfolio holder for planning and housing, Olly Monk, said the council will also build as many new affordable homes to rent and buy in addition to social rent as possible.

He said: “It is great to see the start of our plans to address this issue.

“Our temporary Bunkabin schemes have been a huge success during the pandemic at Truro and Penzance.

“They ensure that we have direct access to safe, reliable accommodation for vulnerable people, rather than having to use hotels and B&Bs, where people can be asked to leave at short notice.

“Although only temporary, the work that goes into delivering these sites is extraordinary – they require huge amounts of coordinated work between our in-house delivery team, our construction partners, Cormac, and Cornwall Housing, which will manage the sites once built.

“We have made a commitment to doing all we can to solve this current housing problem. Temporary sites like this are really important as they give us space to implement more long-term solutions such as our landmark new Somewhere Safe to Stay hub that we’re currently building at Chough House in Truro.

“We are going to provide as many affordable homes to rent and buy, and homes for social rent – Council houses – as possible, as well as working with our existing housing partners to accelerate this.”

House prices have surged in Cornwall this year after the county replaced London as the most searched-for place to move to earlier this year on the UK’s largest property site, Rightmove.

According to the site, most of the sales in Cornwall over the past year were detached properties which on average sold for £441,291.

Cornwall has an overall average price of £325,305.

The most expensive area in the county was St. Mawes where homes average at £1,129,057.

In the past year, house prices in Cornwall increased by 17 percent compared to the year before, and 24 percent by 2018.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has been contacted by Express.co.uk for comment.

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