- The Diocese of Truro sold glebe land in St Ewe to a community housing company
- It has now sold adjoining land for more affordable homes
- Four homes for social rent are being built for local families
- The diocese’s 2025 glebe strategy prioritises land for local housing
The Church of England in Cornwall is using its glebe land to provide affordable homes for local families, the Diocese of Truro reported in April 2026. A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the start of four social-rent homes in the village of St Ewe.
The diocese had already sold glebe land in St Ewe to St Ewe Affordable Homes Limited, a local community housing company, and has now sold adjoining land to allow the new homes to be built.
Kate Cortez, head of operations and governance at the Diocese of Truro, explained the policy. “A key priority of the diocesan glebe strategy, approved in 2025, is to enable the use of glebe to provide homes, and land for homes, where local people need them,” she said. She described the project as “a real community endeavour”, pointing to the strong local turnout at the ceremony.
Glebe land is land historically held to support parish clergy, and the Church of England owns many small plots in villages where homes are expensive and scarce.
The St Ewe scheme is small but shows a clear model: a church sells land to a local community housing company so that homes stay affordable for local people. In Jamaica, many churches hold land in rural districts where young families struggle to find housing. Selling or leasing plots to community housing groups, with conditions that keep them affordable, could meet a real need while giving churches income. The key is a clear policy, like Truro’s glebe strategy, rather than one-off decisions.
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