New council housing to be built in Pentwyn, Ely and Canton

NEW council housing is about to be built at three spots across Cardiff in Canton, Pentwyn and Ely.

The new council homes and social housing should ease some of the pressure on the city’s long waiting list.

Cardiff council is working with housing associations on plans to build the council housing, after an approval from the cabinet last Thursday, July 15.

The plans form part of the council’s wider push to build 1,000 new council homes by next year, with an extra 1,000 over the next few years.

Councillor Lynda Thorne, cabinet member for housing, said: “The Welsh Government is encouraging more collaboration between local authorities and housing associations, where feasible, to share resources and maximise the delivery of affordable homes.

“This is exactly what we are aiming to do in these latest proposals.”

In Canton, the council will build 106 social housing homes with Hafod housing association, on the site of the former Lansdowne Hospital. The abandoned hospital, on Sanatorium Road by Ysgol Treganna, was badly damaged by a fire in 2019. The council would own 38 of these homes, with Hafod managing the rest. Some houses include three and four bedrooms.

In Pentwyn, 28 flats are proposed on the site of the former Morrisons My Local shop on Pentwyn Drive. Before becoming a shop, the building was a pub called the Pentwyn Arms and then later the Grand Slam. Morrisons closed down its Local chain across the UK in 2016. The council is now working with Linc Housing Association to build flats there.

In Ely, the site of a closed down pub, the Michaelston on Drope Road, will also become council housing. The council is buying the site with Linc, and the wider masterplan for the area includes affordable housing for elderly people on the former Michaelston Community College. It’s not yet clear how many homes would be built on the site of the pub.

Cllr Thorne added: “Our ambitious target for 2,000 new council homes has been set in direct response to the increasing demand for affordable housing in our city. While we are exploring all opportunities we can to deliver more good quality, sustainable housing, pressures remain very high as more people join the waiting list for social housing.

“We’re currently on target for 1,000 new homes by 2022, and our programme is capable of delivering double that in the longer term.

“Our housing association partners have an important role to play in helping increase the amount of social housing available in the city, so I’m really pleased to see us working closely together to deliver good quality, new homes.”