Landmark Development Officially Opened

A landmark development which saw the creation of 34 homes, including 16 homes for sale and 18 homes for rent, under an innovative new funding agreement between Caerphilly County Borough Council and the United Welsh Group has been officially opened.

A mixture of three and four-bed homes for sale alongside two and three-bedroom homes and one-bed apartments for rent were built on the site just off Watford Road close to the heart of Caerphilly town centre.

The Council sold part of the site at market value through the United Welsh Group who developed the site to enable much needed high-quality homes to be built in the area. Profits from the properties sold at market price under the harmoni homes brand were used to help fund the construction of the affordable rented homes. The Council also benefits from an above market rate return on the lease of retained land.

Caerphilly Council Leader Cllr David Poole and Cabinet Member for Homes and Places Cllr Lisa Phipps paid a visit to the site to meet with some of the new tenants.

Cllr David Poole said, “Delivering high quality, affordable housing is a key priority for us at Caerphilly County Borough Council, and partnerships such as this with our colleagues at United Welsh are helping us make real strides in achieving this. I was delighted to meet with some of the people living here and see how happy they are in their new homes.

“I hope we see many more developments of this type across the borough in the future.”

Corporate Director of Development for United Welsh Richard Mann said, “This development with Caerphilly County Borough Council is a great example of partnership in action. It provided not only market value for an element of the land to Caerphilly County Borough Council, but also much needed revenue.  It did this by retaining profits that would ordinarily have gone to the private sector to be recycled to deliver additional affordable homes; a truly win-win outcome.”

Jehu was appointed to construct the houses on the £3.8m scheme.