The first new council homes to be delivered as part of Cardiff's flagship house-building programme, Cardiff Living, will be handed over this week.
Two two-bedroom homes for rent at Ty To Maen in St Mellons will be handed over to the Council by its development partner, Wates Residential, on November 9th. A further 11 new council homes will be handed over on sites in Llanrumney & St. Mellons before the end of November and a total of 63 properties by the end of March 2019.
The two homes, which have been built to meethigh levels of sustainability and energy efficiency, are part of a small development that also includes six three-bedroom homes for sale on the open market.
Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "We have been eagerly anticipating the handover of our first new council homes and I'm delighted that within a matter of weeks, we will be handing over the keys to these brand new, quality homes to new tenants."
Work commenced on the first homes in the Cardiff Living Scheme in March last year. The scheme will deliver around 1,500 new homes, 600 of which will be council homes, on council-owned land across the city. Developer, Wates Residential, is currently working across five schemes, with a further five already granted planning consent.These 10 sites will deliver 195 new council homes and 291 homes for sale once complete.
Cllr Thorne continued: "The new council homes at Ty To Maen are the first of around 60 completions we are expecting by March next year. We understand the importance of having a good quality, affordable homes and with a very long housing waiting list in the city, we are doing everything we can to address the increasing pressure to provide decent homes for the people who need them.
"Cardiff Living is focussed on delivering affordable homes for sale, as well as for rent from the Council and I have been really pleased by the success of the scheme's open market sales. All properties that have been released so far have sold and the first residents on our developments in Llanrumney, predominantly local buyers with existing links to the area, are already enjoying settling into their new homes.
"We have proved there is a local market for affordable, quality new homes in areas not necessarily attractive to private developers and a small site like Ty To Maen is an excellent example of this. Wates Residential has worked closely with the local community there, establishing good relationships, which is key as we aim to ensure our new developments dovetail into existing communities and help to regenerate and enhance the environment for all local residents."
Paul Nicholls, Managing Director of Wates Residential, commented:"The completion of these high quality new homes at Ty To Maen marks another positive step in our long-standing partnership with Cardiff Council to deliver a truly transformative house building programme across the city.
"We look forward to providing the opportunity for many more local people to move into their new homes over the coming months as we continue to progress further sites across Cardiff."
Cardiff Council has targeted the delivery of 1,000 new council homes in the city by May 2022, and a further 1,000 homes to meet growing demand in coming years.