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Welsh Government announces second round of allocations for innovative housing fund
Successful bids for the second year of the Welsh Government’s £90m Innovative Housing Programme have been announced.
The three-year fund, of which £43m was available this year, aims to support development projects that utilise novel construction techniques to speed up the building process, improve sustainability or reduce fuel consumption.
Carmarthenshire County Council’s housing company, Cartrefi Croeso, is among those awarded funding.
The firm has been given £4m to build 30 homes in Burry Port manufactured offsite, using local labour, Welsh timber and solar panels produced in West Wales.
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Other winning bids include £9m for Linc Cymru to build 50 flats in a timber tower with a vertical garden in Cardiff, and nearly £7m for Pobl Group to provide infrastructure for a 225-unit scheme of homes able to generate and store their own power, near Tonyrefail.
Housing association Cartrefi Conwy has also been awarded £442,000 to set up a timber-frame Passivhaus homes factory, with Denbighshire County Council given £650,000 for a first order of 16 homes.
Rebecca Evans, housing and regeneration minister for the Welsh Government, said: “We are investing in our Innovative Housing Programme to reduce fuel poverty, reduce the impact of housebuilding on the environment, and reduce the health and well-being inequalities which are exacerbated by poor-quality housing.
“It is clear that if the scale and pace of housebuilding is to increase significantly, traditional approaches are unlikely to deliver on their own.
“Done the right way, we have an opportunity to build high-quality, near zero-carbon homes, capturing and boosting the skills and expertise within the Welsh construction and manufacturing industries.”
Projects awarded Innovative Housing Programme funding:
- Nearly £7m for Pobl Group for 225 homes near Tonyrefail to build the infrastructure to ensure homes can act as power stations – a UK first at this scale
- £4m for Cartrefi Croeso to build 30 homes in Burry Port using Welsh timber and local offsite manufacturing using local labour, including Tŷ Solar panels manufactured in West Wales
- £442,000 for Catrefi Conwy to establish a factory to produce timber-framed Passivhaus homes. Denbighshire County Council will receive £650,000 to build 16 homes using the system
- £1m for Anglesey County Council working with Coed Cymru and social housing providers to deliver a new “affordable and flexible” housing construction system using local Welsh softwood and support the development of a local supply chain
- £1.1m for Flintshire County Council to build 12 flats with extra flexibility for adaptations, including flat size, wheelchair accessibility and supported living
- £1.9m for Newydd Housing Association to build 23 homes as well as space for start-ups and established businesses as part of the Goods Shed development in Barry
- £2.6m for Powys County Council to build 26 low-carbon homes in Newtown using Welsh timber
- £839,000 for Wales & West Housing to build 14 homes in Bridgend using the Solcer House model, which incorporates energy efficiency and renewable technologies
- £568,000 for Gwynedd Council to build four adaptable pods to Passivhaus standards to provide stable intermediate accommodation for homeless people
- £9m for Linc Cymru to build 50 homes in a timber tower with vertical greening in Cardiff
Update: at 17.25pm, 16/10/18 The line explaining Catrefi Conwy and Denbighshire County Council’s bids has been amended following a correction issued by the Welsh Government
