Prince William sets 20% Duchy sale plan for Isles Of Scilly
Prince William said the Duchy of Cornwall will sell 20% of its property over 10 years and direct £500m into local communities, with isles of scilly among the places given greater emphasis in the new strategy. The plan also commits the duchy to 12,000 extra homes by 2040, with about a third intended to be affordable.
He said, "We're not the traditional landowner… we want to be more than that. There is so much good we can do. I'm trying to make sure I'm prioritising stuff that's going to make people's lives, living in those areas, better," as the duchy set out housing, jobs, renewable energy and environmental spending.
Isles Of Scilly And Five Areas
The duchy’s new strategy gives greater emphasis to Bath, Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Isles of Scilly and Kennington in south London. Those five areas sit inside a wider estate that covers 128,000 acres across 19 counties, and the shift marks a narrower focus on places where the duchy says it can have the biggest effect.
Will Bax, the duchy’s chief executive, said, "The Duchy should exist to make a positive impact, particularly in the communities where we can make the biggest difference." Prince William said, "There is so much good we can do."
Housing And Renewable Energy
The duchy is putting £161m into housing and £123m into workplaces, rural jobs and support for renewable energy. It also aims to expand solar panels on rooftops in the south west of England to generate enough power for 40,000 homes.
About a third of the 12,000 homes are intended to be affordable. The housing programme runs alongside the wider £500m community investment, which also includes environmental projects.
Peatlands, Biodiversity And Royal Finances
The environmental budget stands at £20m for schemes including restoring peatlands and biodiversity on the duchy’s estates, while the public funding for the Royal Household, the Sovereign Grant, is currently under review. Norman Baker, a former Home Office minister and critic of royal finances, said, "royal fruit machine... he pulls the handle and gets a jackpot every time" and added, "More houses, more tenants, more income," in criticism of the duchy’s shift toward more housing.
For residents and land users on the Isles of Scilly, the immediate change is not a new announcement of a separate local scheme, but a duchy strategy that puts the island group inside a smaller set of priority areas and links it to spending on homes, jobs, energy and environmental work over the next decade.
