Final phase of major office redevelopment delivers 78 affordable homes

The last stage of a landmark building conversion has been completed, providing dozens of new council apartments for families and people on the social housing waiting list.

The scheme, which transformed a former office block into modern homes, has now delivered all 78 affordable apartments.

The development at Scott Harbour in Cardiff Bay marks the completion of a two-phase regeneration project that has seen a disused commercial building repurposed to help address housing pressures in the city.

Forty-five new homes have been finished as part of the final phase and will be allocated to households currently on Cardiff’s social housing waiting list. The earlier phase delivered 33 apartments, which were handed over last summer.

Cardiff Council said the completion represents a significant boost to the supply of permanent, affordable accommodation, particularly for families.

Delivered in partnership with property developer Rightacres, the redevelopment has created a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments. The homes were designed primarily with family living in mind and feature spacious layouts, large windows and views across Roath Basin and Cardiff Bay.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said the scheme formed an important part of the Council’s response to housing challenges.

“At the peak of the housing emergency, when our services were under immense pressure, the Council left no stone unturned in exploring solutions to increase our supply of affordable housing as quickly as possible,” she said.

“Scott Harbour has played a crucial role in that response, and it’s fantastic to see the full building now open, offering beautiful and much-needed family homes in the heart of Cardiff Bay.”

Opportunity

Rightacres Chief Executive, Paul McCarthy, said the building had offered a rare opportunity for large-scale conversion.

“Scott Harbour presented a unique opportunity to take a previously unloved office building and breathe new life into it,” he said.

“Our team collaborated closely with Cardiff Council’s forward-thinking Housing Development team to create high-quality, waterfront homes that meet today’s environmental and sustainability standards.”

Heat network

Scott Harbour has also become the first residential building in Cardiff to connect to the Council’s new low-carbon district heat network.

The system provides residents with sustainable heating and hot water and forms part of Cardiff’s wider transition towards lower-emission energy infrastructure.

The completed scheme also includes new ground-floor office space and a range of external improvements aimed at enhancing shared outdoor areas for residents.

Cardiff Council said the new homes would help reduce pressure on its housing waiting list.

A special lettings initiative linked to the development is continuing to support residents in nearby Butetown, helping overcrowded families move into more suitable accommodation while enabling others to downsize. Officials say the approach is designed to free up additional homes across the wider social housing stock.

The Scott Harbour project forms part of the Council’s broader programme to tackle what it has described as a housing emergency.

Alongside new-build developments, the authority has increasingly turned to innovative property conversions to accelerate the delivery of council homes.

Cardiff Council said its current programme represents the largest council house-building initiative in Wales, with thousands of new homes planned through a combination of regeneration, construction and building repurposing projects.