Block Management in St Ives
A principal residence policy that survived the High Court in 2016.
Across St Ives and Carbis Bay, Plymouth Block Management offers block, estate and leasehold management to RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders. Policy H2 of the made neighbourhood plan ties new open market homes to principal residence, and on its wording that includes new-build flats. In 2011, 48 per cent of homes in the town centre and Island had no full-time resident. Class 6 radon covers 97.4 per cent of the town.
What We Would Put First for a Block in St Ives
Keep Contact Records for Absent Owners
The neighbourhood plan records 48 per cent of town centre and Island homes with no full-time resident in 2011, so a large share of flats in a block may be second homes. We would keep correspondence addresses current for service charge demands and notices.
Service chargesRecord Principal Residence Obligations
Policy H2 requires new open market homes to be occupied as a principal residence, secured by condition or legal agreement, with proof kept by occupiers. For a block built under it we would record which flats carry the obligation and flag it on subletting requests.
Leasehold managementObtain Consent for Routine External Work
139 of the 142 listed buildings within 500 metres of the centre are Grade II, so consent bites on routine work across the old town. We would confirm listing before specifying repairs or redecoration and obtain consent first.
ConsentsMeasure Radon in Older Subdivided Buildings
Class 6 covers 97.4 per cent of St Ives, and its enclosed ground-level space is usually part of an older subdivided building. We would recommend radon measurement in ground-floor communal areas and keep results in the compliance record.
ComplianceManaging a Block in St Ives at a Glance
- Local authority
- Cornwall Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Cornwall Council Building Control
- County
- Cornwall
- Fire and rescue service
- Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- South West Water
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 79 miles by road, an hour and a half or so
- Setting
- Coastal
What It Costs to Move a Block in St Ives to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
Policy H2 Survived the High Court in 2016
The St Ives Neighbourhood Development Plan was made on 20 December 2016, after an 83 per cent referendum vote on a 47 per cent turnout. Policy H2 supports new open market housing only where occupancy as a sole or main residence is secured by condition or legal agreement. It states that new unrestricted second homes will not be supported at any time, and requires occupiers to keep and produce proof. It was challenged in the High Court and survived: permission was granted but all three grounds were dismissed in November 2016. The policy excludes replacement dwellings and says nothing about flats either way, so a new-build flat falls inside its wording. Policy H5 separately supports subdividing a dwelling or converting to an HMO where the character of the building and its surroundings and residential amenity are not harmed. The plan area covers Carbis Bay, which is in the same parish and has no separate plan of its own. For a block, the occupancy conditions on individual flats should be known before subletting or sales are dealt with.
Converted Houses Hold 7.6 Per Cent of Households
St Ives West and Towednack was 21.2 per cent flats at the 2021 Census. The made neighbourhood plan records, from the 2011 Census, that 25 per cent of housing stock in the parish had no full-time resident. That rose to 48 per cent in the town centre and Island area. It also records that St Ives and Carbis Bay are among the top five settlements in Cornwall for second homes and holiday lets. The built-up area has 2,594 households, of which 299 are in purpose-built blocks, 11.5 per cent, and 198 in a converted or shared house, 7.6 per cent. A further 52 are in another converted building and 47 over commercial premises, and the town is 35.2 per cent terraced. Carbis Bay is a different place in the data: 1,786 households, 46.4 per cent detached against St Ives's 14.9 per cent. With so many absent owners, a block here needs correspondence addresses kept current for service charge demands and statutory notices.
Four Frontages Held to 2105, Carbis Bay's Left Alone
Environment Agency designated bathing waters at Porthminster, Porthmeor and Porthgwidden all lie within 700 metres of the town centre. St Ives has four separate shoreline management policy units against its own built-up area: Porthmeor, Porthgwidden to the pier, the harbour, and Porthminster beach. All four are hold the line across every epoch to 2105. The undefended cliffs beside them are no active intervention. Carbis Bay's own frontage is no active intervention in all three epochs. So two settlements a mile and a half apart differ sharply, one defended throughout and one not. Seafront blocks in either need external metalwork inspected more often, and in Carbis Bay no public defence should be assumed.
Metalwork is where coastal exposure shows up first and costs most. The standards put a high-salinity coastal atmosphere in category C5-M, losing over 80 micrometres of steel in year one against 1.3 to 25 inland, so railings, balustrades and fixings on a St Ives block are surveyed more often and the reserve fund is modelled on the findings.
Flood Zone 3 Within 100 Metres of the Centre
Environment Agency Flood Zone 3 comes within 100 metres of the town centre, with 32 Flood Zone 2 areas inside 250 metres. Three Environment Agency areas contain part of the town. The West Cornwall Rivers alert covers 7.53 per cent of the built-up area, and its description names St Ives. The north Cornwall coast warning area and its parent alert each cover 2.50 per cent and name St Ives, Carbis Bay, Lelant and Hayle. No Environment Agency area names a street here. A block's own position should be checked against the flood zones and stated to the insurer.
139 of 142 Central Listed Buildings Are Grade II
The St Ives conservation area was designated on 21 October 1968 and covers the centre. It runs to 20.5 hectares, about 71 per cent of it inside the built-up area, and covers 8.9 per cent of the town. No appraisal is registered against it. Halsetown, Lelant and Zennor carry their own designations. The national statistics treat St Ives and Carbis Bay as two separate built-up areas, and Carbis Bay is the larger of the two at 165.6 hectares against 163.0. Carbis Bay contains no conservation area at all. For a block in the St Ives area, external works need checking against conservation controls with the council before they are specified.
142 listed buildings sit within 500 metres of the centre, of which 139 are Grade II. This is dense vernacular fabric rather than a few landmarks, so consent is needed for routine external work across the old town. 181 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the built-up area, one Grade I and two Grade II*, with 150 of them inside the conservation area. The Grade I is the Church of St Ia. The two Grade II* entries are the harbour wharfs and piers including both lighthouses, and the Porthmeor pilchard cellars and studios, the latter listed in June 2004. Carbis Bay holds six listed entries, all Grade II. For a listed block, listing should be confirmed, and any consent needed for works that affect its character obtained, before repairs or redecoration are specified.
Class 6 Radon over 97.4 Per Cent of the Town
Effectively saturated at the top band. Class 6 covers 97.4 per cent of the built-up area, and of the land the mapping actually covers, 99.7 per cent is class 6. There, maximum radon potential is greater than 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level. Carbis Bay reads class 6 across 100 per cent of its area. With 8.4 per cent of households in converted or shared houses, the enclosed ground-level space that matters is usually part of an older subdivided building rather than a modern plant room. Every block here should have radon measured in ground floor flats and communal areas, with results kept on the compliance record.
No Article 4, but a Principal Residence Condition Instead
There is no Article 4 direction here, but there is a stronger local control. Policy H2 of the made St Ives Area Neighbourhood Development Plan requires new open market homes to be occupied as a principal residence, enforced by condition or legal agreement. It states that new unrestricted second homes will not be supported at any time. Occupiers have to keep proof that they are meeting the obligation and produce it if the council asks. For a block built under the policy, the flats carrying the obligation should be recorded and checked whenever subletting or a sale is raised.
Tribunal Decisions on Blocks in St Ives
Published First-tier Tribunal decisions on named developments here, each read in full. They show what the tribunal expects of whoever runs a block in this area.
| Development | Issue | Decided |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 12 Salt Apartments, Belyars Lane | Section 20 consultation | 30 April 2025 |
| 1 to 18 Gallinas Point, Talland Road | Section 20 consultation | 11 March 2025 |
Going Deeper in St Ives
Towns and Villages We Cover Around St Ives
Carbis Bay, Lelant, Zennor, Halsetown.
Service charge or accounts query? Email accounts@
St Ives Questions
Does Policy H2 Apply to New-Build Flats?
On the face of its wording, yes. Policy H2 supports new open market housing only where occupancy as a sole or main residence is secured by condition or legal agreement. It draws no distinction between houses and flats, so a new-build flat falls inside its wording. Replacement dwellings are excluded. The policy survived a High Court challenge in November 2016.
Are St Ives and Carbis Bay Treated as One Place?
Not in the statistics. The national figures treat them as two built-up areas, and Carbis Bay is slightly larger at 165.6 hectares against 163.0. Carbis Bay has no conservation area and its frontage is no active intervention in all three epochs, while St Ives has four frontages held to 2105. Both sit in the same parish and neighbourhood plan.
How Close Does Flood Risk Come to the Centre of St Ives?
Environment Agency Flood Zone 3 comes within 100 metres of the town centre, with 32 Flood Zone 2 areas inside 250 metres. The West Cornwall Rivers alert covers 7.53 per cent of the built-up area, and the north Cornwall coast warning area covers 2.50 per cent. No Environment Agency area names a street.
Nearby Areas
Talk to Us About Your Building in St Ives.
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