Five year £300m plan to build 2,200 affordable homes across Carmarthenshire unveiled

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

Plans to build nearly 2,200 affordable homes across Carmarthenshire have been unveiled by council leaders.

The houses, flats and bungalows would be built by the council in partnership with housing associations and private developers, as well as properties the local authority builds or renovates itself.

Cabinet members approved the five-year policy at a meeting on Monday, February 14. It will now go to full council for consideration.

Introducing the plan, which will cost at least £300m, at cabinet, Cllr Linda Evans, who has the housing portfolio, said the energy-efficient homes would be for older people, families, single people and those with additional needs on a rental or purchase basis.

“It will help the economy and create jobs, which in turn will help the county recover from the impact of the pandemic,” she said.

Links

The 2,160 homes would be split across four zones encompassing the north of Carmarthenshire (226 homes), Ammanford and the Amman Valley area (362), Carmarthen and west (415), and Llanelli and district area (1,157).

The 40-plus sites range from just four properties at Wauniago House, Carmarthen, up to 240 at an unnamed site in Burry Port. But Cllr Evans said some of the sites might change as work progressed on the plan.

Allocations in the Ammanford and the Amman Valley area include 24 homes in Llandybie, 12 in Ammanford town centre and 140 on land in Penygroes.

In the north of the county, 60 properties are proposed at Pencrug, Llandeilo, and 32 in Llandovery.

In the Carmarthen and west area, 16 homes are earmarked at Maesgriffith, Llansteffan, 40 in Bancyfelin, and 50 at the old Lidl site in Carmarthen.

Allocations in the Llanelli and district area include 210 properties at North Dock, Llanelli, 144 assisted living homes at the Pentre Awel wellness and life science village at Delta Lakes, and 71 homes at two sites in Llangennech.

Council leader Emlyn Dole said young people wanted to stay and work in Carmarthenshire.

“That is possible through this kind of scheme,” he said.

The authority intends to use council housing rent to support additional borrowing to fund the plan. It will also apply for Welsh Government grants, while housing associations are able to access private finance.

The Plaid-Independent administration launched a five-year plan in 2016 to deliver 1,000 affordable homes.

Cllr Evans said the target was hit a year ahead of schedule and that the most up-to-date figure was 1,296.

In 2019 the authority said it wanted to build 900 council houses in a 10-year project costing £150m, so some of these council houses are included in the 2,160 properties identified in the new affordable homes policy for 2022-27.

The new plan said people in Carmarthenshire were being priced out of their communities, especially coastal and rural areas.

More than 2,500 people and organisations responded to a consultation on the five-year plan. They said housing need should determine where more homes were built, and that transport and broadband links also needed to be improved in rural areas.