THE Duchy of Cornwall, which is owned by Prince William, the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence – three of the biggest land and property owners in Cornwall – should do more to help alleviate the housing crisis in the county. That was the message at a meeting of Cornwall Council on Tuesday, January 21.

Independent councillor Julian German tabled a motion that the council should write to the National Trust asking that it considers using all of its suitable holiday properties in Cornwall for long-term rental accommodation for families affected by a dearth of homes across the Duchy.

Cllr Thalia Marrington tabled an accepted amendment that the council also writes to other significant landowners in Cornwall to ask them to consider similar changes.

The Duchy of Cornwall was highlighted as one of the biggest landowners which could be able to help. The royal land and property empire owns around 18,710 acres in Cornwall, which includes housing developments, holiday cottages, farms, woodland and coastlines.

Introducing his motion, Cllr German said: “The housing crisis is across the whole of Cornwall and we need homes in our rural areas as well as our towns. Many of the Trust properties have been lived in and are capable of being lived in again today. We need to keep thinking about our challenges and coming up with solutions.

“I know this isn’t a silver bullet, but think of the Trust taking a leadership position on this issue. If they were to move some of their holiday properties over to long-term lets other owners may well follow suit. This can only be of benefit for people looking for and struggling to find long-term lets.”

The councillor, who represents the Roseland Peninsula which has a high proportion of holiday lets and Trust properties, added: “As councillors, we are all aware of working people who simply cannot find places to rent. We need to do more to resolve the housing crisis. We have 800 families in temporary accommodation – that is bad for their life chances, for our society and costs over £10m a year.

“There are 20,000 households on the Cornwall housing register yet 24,000 holiday let properties in Cornwall, an increase of 30 per cent in the last five years.”

Cllr Hilary Frank, who seconded the motion, said many of the National Trust’s properties were once family homes at the heart of Cornwall’s villages and rural economies. “They can be again,” she added. Cllr Frank said the National Trust had acknowledged the importance of the issue and welcomed the debate.

Cllr Adam Paynter stressed that with forthcoming changes to the tax system many property owners may find they are better off taking their accommodation off Airbnb and other sites and letting to families instead.

However, not all councillors agreed with the motion. Cllr Philip Desmonde said he rejected it. “It is mean, it is targeted and it is immensely political. It seeks to destroy by defunding an organisation that invests heavily in our communities and society with a care for our heritage. What do they use as funds? Our donations. They are entitled to be commercially minded where they can.”

He added that he found the motion an “abhorrent misuse of this place” and it was “aggressive and spiteful”. Cllr Paul Wills agreed and said the move would defund the National Trust by around £110,000 a year.

Cllr Andrew Mitchell said he couldn’t understand their comments. “I’m here to represent those 20,000-plus families on our own Homechoice register. I have a serious housing crisis emergency in St Ives and mothers crying because they’re about to get evicted. We should do everything we can possibly do to try and provide housing for local people.

“If you want me to get political, I represent those people not an organisation that has probably had most of those properties given to them so that people avoid death duty. I think it’s absolutely right to ask an organisation like them.”

Cllr Dick Cole said of the Trust: “What’s the point of protecting the Cornish coast if there’s no Cornish people in it?”

Cllr Louis Gardner countered that it shouldn’t just be the Trust that was asked to help: “I think we all support the intent here but what I’ve got against it is it singles out one landowner. The National Trust isn’t the largest landowner in Cornwall by any stretch of the imagination. Why aren’t we mentioning the Duchy? Why aren’t we mentioning the MoD? Why aren’t we mentioning other large landowners?

“We need to get the others on board as well. We need to get the MoD, we need to get the Duchy. It’s not just about the National Trust.”

Cllr Dulcie Tudor responded: “These big landlords, like Lord Falmouth and King Charles, can play the long game, so why are we seeming to be picking on the National Trust? Why are we not concentrating on the Duchy and Tregothnan estates?”

Cllr Dominic Fairman said there was a valid reason for pinpointing the National Trust. “They have a stated social conscience and, unlike the other landowners we’ve discussed, they are a membership organisation, which means when this debate gets out into the general public, their members might want to have a say.”

Cllr Loic Rich highlighted that there are many key workers who don’t qualify for social or affordable housing but are still in desperate need of homes and private rentals. “Even if this motion helps one family I think it’s worth the debate quite frankly, because they’re going through hell right now.”

Councillors voted in favour of the motion by 67 votes, with four against and six abstentions.

A spokesperson for the National Trust responded to the debate. “As a charity we are obliged to make the best use of our assets to achieve our core purpose of looking after nature, beauty and history for everyone.

“Within our estate of houses, cottages and farms, much of which is let to individuals as their private home or business, we always consider the use of every building in our care and any local issues around available housing when creating holiday accommodation.

“The nature of some of the housing that the National Trust owns makes it less suitable for residential affordable housing. National Trust holiday cottages tend to be heritage properties in isolated areas that are relatively expensive to run, and not in the villages and towns where housing is most needed.”