Minister Welcomes Tenants to New Homes

Press release courtesy of Cardiff Community Housing Association

Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA) were joined by Huw Lewis, Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage, recently to officially welcome tenants to their new homes in Butetown.

The much needed new homes are among the most environmentally friendly in Cardiff and form part of the wider £13m regeneration of Loudoun Square.

The development has 11 townhouses – eight four-bedroom and three six-bedroom homes – and two detached three-bedroom homes, all specifically designed to accommodate larger families.

Mr Taleb and Mrs Ali and their four children recently moved into their four bedroom home. Prior to this they were living locally in their parent’s home in very overcrowded conditions. All six family members had to share one bedroom which they ate, lived and slept in.

Barclays Bank employee Mr Taleb age 28 has lived in Butetown for the past 22 years and is thrilled with his new home. He said: “The house is absolutely lovely. It’s so nice to have space in which to live comfortably and the children have room to play, we are over the moon with the garden. Everything is finished to a really high standard and I am sure we are going to be very happy here.”

When asked how she would rate her new home out of 10, Layla, Mr Taleb’s seven year old daughter said 20!

Ms Mohammed, a support worker for BAWSO, lived in a two bedroom council flat with her three children prior to moving to her new four bedroom house. When asked what she thought about her new home she told us:

“I love it! There is so much space that we never had before and the children now have their own bedrooms and no longer have to share with me. The move has made a huge difference to my family.”

All the homes are designed and built to the highest environmental standards and include many energy-efficient measures to help reduce running costs for tenants. These include high levels of eco-friendly insulation, heat recovery units, and water efficient sanitary ware. The townhouses meet Level 4 and the detached properties meet Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Huw Lewis, Minister for Housing, said: ”I hope that the residents settle into their wonderful new homes as soon as possible and that this scheme will go on to benefit people in the local community for many years to come. It is great to see collaboration between Cardiff Community Housing Association and Leadbitter, who have a base in Cardiff and are ensuring local job security and creation for people in the area.”

Kevin Protheroe, Chief Executive of CCHA added: “Our vision is to provide homes and regenerate communities and our project at Loudoun Square is a great example of this. The families we met during our visit have all been living in very overcrowded conditions and it’s great to see them settling in to their new homes.”

Charlie Scherer, Regional Director of Leadbitter’s West & Wales Housing division, said: “We are delighted to see these new homes occupied by happy residents. Regeneration projects can make a huge difference to local communities, and this is certainly true at Loudoun Square, where council, housing association, health board and contractor are all working in partnership to deliver much-needed housing and facilities.”

The regeneration of Loudoun Square started in July 2010 and to date has delivered a parade of 11 retail units, a state of the art health centre, a new culture and media centre, three social enterprise units and a community hub housing council information services.

The project is a collaboration between Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA), Cardiff Council and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. It is being developed by the Leadbitter Group.

The final phase of the project is now underway. The dilapidated 1960s Butetown health centre was demolished last month and the space will now be used to build 48 new apartments, 13 of which are specifically designed for disabled people. The scheme is due for completion next summer.

CCHA now have 2,679 homes and plan to build over 100 new homes within the next 12 months.