About CRHA
Cornwall Rural Housing Association (CRHA) is a charitable housing association registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978.
CRHA was formed in 1985 with the specific aim of building homes for rent in the rural areas of Cornwall and on the Isles of Scilly. The homes are let to local people in housing need.
CRHA is run by a voluntary Board of Management comprising of people with a wide variety of experience in different fields. The Board meets approximately every two months to decide policy and monitor progress. Click here to find out who is on our Board of Management.
CRHA employs four full-time staff - the Director, Finance Officer, Housing Officer and Building Surveyor - and two part-time Clerical Officers. All staff work from our offices located near to Bodmin Parkway Station. The Director has overall responsibility for the day to day affairs of the Association. Click here for details of our staff.
Funding for new developments has generally been provided by way of capital grants from government bodies such as the Homes & Communities Agency and also from local authorities. these grants have been supplemented by loans raised by CRHA from financial institutions. The loans are repaid from our rental income, which also has to meet the costs of maintaining and managing the properties.
The Tenant Services Authority currently monitors the work of CRHA to ensure that we are meeting the standards expected of an organisation in receipt of public funds.
Since its formation CRHA has completed 46 developments in village locations ranging in size from 1 home up to 21 and currently has 294 homes in management.
CRHA is committed to providing good quality rented accommodation which complements the areas in which it works. Its success in meeting this commitment is reflected in the various awards that have been received for the following developments:
- Launceston Civic Society Architectural & Conservation Award 2006 for Hendra Garth, Tresmeer
- Country Land & Business Association Award (2002) and Cornish Buildings Group Award (2000) for Lizard village
- Caradon Design Award (1999) and Cornish Buildings Group Award (1999) for Pelynt
- Cornish Buildings Group Award (1993) for St Mawes "...for the unpretentious and imaginative design of the Porth View rural housing scheme".
- Caradon Design Award (1993) for Harrowbarrow.
- Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) Architectural Award (1993) for Harrowbarrow "...for a contribution to the quality of buildings in a rural landscape".
We are also committed to providing dwellings with low running costs for residents and our developments at Blisland, Morwenstow, Goonhavern, Kilkhampton, Tresmeer, Delabole, St Teath and on the Isles of Scilly were fitted with ground source heat pumps, with some properties also having rainwater harvesting and solar thermal systems installed.
Our development of 21 homes at Delabole completed during in December 2010 features properties with high levels of insulation and photovoltaic panels.
We were pleased to see our efforts on St Mary's recognised in the Draft Sustainable Energy Strategy for the Isles of Scilly, which contained a detailed reference to our new development and stated that: “These buildings are setting the benchmark for future development on the Islands”.
Click here for the latest news from CRHA.