More social housing for Swansea city centre

MORE social housing is coming to Swansea city centre after plans to convert a former building society on The Kingsway were approved.

And proposals for more affordable flats have been submitted for a former car rental site on nearby Oxford Street, and a former education unit in Manselton.

Housing association Caredig has been given the go-ahead by Swansea Council for 18 flats at the old Nationwide branch on The Kingsway (pictured), which will add two storeys to the building. All of the flats will have Juliet balconies, and there will be a “green” external wall comprising various plants.

The site was acquired by a company called Calon Construction Ltd, which will hand over the accommodation to Caredig once completed and, according to a design and access statement submitted as part of the application, use the ground floor itself as office space. The statement said the development was high quality and would be “a positive addition to a rapidly improving streetscape”.

The council has attached a number of conditions with the planning permission, including one to protect future residents from traffic and other noise, such as the operation of a nearby nightclub. The applicants must also pay £9,100 towards cycling and pedestrian measures and new on-street electric vehicle charging points.

Another social housing provider, Coastal Housing Group, has submitted plans to the council for a three-storey building with eight flats at the former Europcar car rental site on Oxford Street, near the junction with Little Gam Street.

These two schemes are the latest in a string of city centre accommodation projects built or in the pipeline. The revamped Orchard House, Orchard Street, has 52 new flats while a further 33 were built at the Copr Bay development near the Tesco superstore. Another 50 flats are being built at a new 12-storey development behind the former Woolworths building, Oxford Street, while plans for another 33 apartments at 254-260 Oxford Street have been approved.

The council, meanwhile, is behind affordable housing plans for the former Brondeg House education unit on St John’s Road, Manselton, which was demolished last year. The authority wants to build eight one-bedroom flats and five three-bedroom houses. There would be 18 parking spaces, gardens, wildflower planting, bird and bat boxes, plus some new and some retained trees.