A Butetown Church Site Becomes 12 Affordable Homes With Solar Panels and Heat Pumps

• Work began on 12 homes at the former St Cuthbert’s Church site in Butetown, Cardiff
• The scheme has eight one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent
• Solar panels and ground source heat pumps are designed to lower energy bills
• It was partly funded by Welsh Government Social Housing Grant

Butetown, one of Cardiff’s oldest and most diverse communities, is getting new affordable homes on land that once held a church. Housing association United Welsh announced in March 2021 that construction had begun on 12 homes at the former St Cuthbert’s Church site on Clarence Embankment.

The development will provide eight one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments for affordable rent. It is being delivered with Cardiff Council and the contractor M&J Cosgrove Construction Ltd, and is partly funded by the Welsh Government’s Social Housing Grant.

The homes are designed to be cheap to run. Solar panels and ground source heat pumps will reduce carbon emissions and lower residents’ energy costs, an important consideration for tenants on low incomes.

“There continues to be a high need for affordable housing in Cardiff,” said Lynn Morgan, director of development at United Welsh. A council spokesperson said: “The Council is really pleased to see this scheme come forward and to be working in partnership with United Welsh.” The project forms part of United Welsh’s plan to provide 1,300 new homes across South Wales by 2026.

The scheme is another example of how former church sites in British cities are being used for social housing. In dense neighbourhoods with long waiting lists, a church plot can offer one of the few available pieces of land close to transport and services.

Butetown is one of Britain’s oldest multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, and its churches have played a central role in local life. For Jamaican churches in Britain and at home considering the future of closed or surplus sites, the St Cuthbert’s project shows how land once used for worship can go on serving the neighbourhood through energy-efficient homes at rents local people can afford.

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