Former hospital earmarked for new homes put up for sale

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A former hospital which sits on land earmarked for nearly 100 homes has been put on the market.

Rookwood Hospital in Llandaff closed in 2020 and was allocated in Cardiff’s local development plan (LDP) as a plot for 90 homes. Part of the site remains in use as an artificial limb and appliance service.

However, Cardiff and Vale Health Charity is now seeking interest, via Savills, for the sale of the property as a whole or in parts.

The deadline for an expression of interest to be made for the Rookwood Hospital site is noon on Wednesday, February 21.

Advert

An advert on Rightmove lists the site as an “exceptional part conversion/new-build residential opportunity” in a “highly sought after location within close proximity to village amenities”.

The grade-II listed building was built in the late 1860s as a house for Colonel Sir Edward Stock Hill and was originally named Rookwood House.

It was in 1917 that the building was brought into use as a hospital and it remained as such until its closure four years ago.

The hospital specialised in spinal rehabilitation and was one of just 12 such units in the UK at one time.

However, after £30m of funding was set aside for a new unit at University Hospital Llandough in 2018, it was clear the hospital was set for closure.

Cardiff Council saw the 42,000sqm site as an important brownfield site that could help it deliver more than 41,000 homes for the city.

An LDP is used by local authorities as a blueprint for the future and determines which areas of land are allocated for housing and which areas are allocated for employment use over a set period of time.

It is also used to determine which areas of land should be protected from development.

Cardiff’s adopted LDP is set to come to an end in 2026, but the council is currently in the process of developing a new one called the replacement local development plan.