Cardiff Council’s decision to buy and repurpose the hotel without a planning application has been deemed ‘unwise’ by residents
CARDIFF Council has purchased a hotel close to Cardiff city centre and will open it as an accommodation for homeless people in the next few weeks.
The hotel can house a maximum of 173 people and is a part of an effort to curb rising homelessness.
“Residents in the Atlantic Wharf and Butetown area may have legitimate concerns around concentrating so many individuals in one building,” said the Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association (AWRA). “They may also question Cardiff Council’s decision to place such a large-scale hostel within close proximity to the many other hostels that are currently situated in the area and that have proven problematic in the past.”
The council – which has asked us not to name the hotel – has not yet made a planning application. Emergency planning measures allow it to use the site for 365 days without making the application if dealing with an emergency. This means there was no consultation phase in which residents could voice their concerns, frustrating many.
“We understand that support for homeless individuals and those with issues is necessary but don’t understand why hostels and other services are concentrated in the areas of Atlantic Wharf and Butetown, why can’t this be shared across the city?” resident Carol O’Byrne said online.
“This will make six such facilities within about a mile of each other. This is surely unwise to concentrate so many people with these needs within such a small area.”
The ward does have a high number of accommodations for homeless people, and this is largely because buildings in these areas are often cheaper for charities and local authorities to purchase. Butetown, which has five temporary accommodation sites, has a mode council tax band of E. This can lead to situations where vulnerable people for whom the council has a duty of care are concentrated in certain neighbourhoods.
The ward’s councillors Saeed Ebrahim, Helen Gunter and Margaret Lewis were aware of the purchase but unaware of the planned repurposing, they told the AWRA. The Cardiffian has approached the three for comment but they had not responded at the time of publication.
Cardiff Council is facing unprecedented demands on its housing stock.
Homelessness is at its highest level ever in Wales and the number of people using temporary accommodation rose by 18% to 6,447 in 2023-24. The number of households assessed as homeless and owed a duty to secure accommodation was 13,539 as of October 2024 – up 8% from the year before.
Temporary accommodation is being used more and more to cope with the problem. The Bevan Foundation think tank estimates that six in every 1,000 children are living in temporary accommodation.
They’re “warm and dry” and “better than being on the streets,” according to Professor Peter Mackie, Cardiff University’s expert in homelessness and public policy. “These accommodations can be very good or they can be very, very temporary.”
The council has confirmed the building will be used to house single homeless people, despite online speculation that it will be used to house asylum seekers.
Cardiff Council has exclusive use of five hotels for temporary accommodation across the city – this will be the sixth. The accommodation will open in the next few weeks.
A council spokesperson said: “Cardiff’s homelessness services are continuing to feel the pressure created by the unprecedented demand that has led to a housing emergency in the city.
“Considerable in-roads have been made in tackling demand for family homelessness services, but at the moment, there is a significant strain on single person’s services as high numbers of individuals seek our help.
“Over recent months, to cope with the exceptional demand the council has had exclusive use of a number of hotels in the city to provide accommodation. This has always been intended as a temporary measure and considerable work has already taken place to increase the availability of more suitable permanent accommodation.
“Plans announced in September to acquire a hotel have progressed rapidly and this city centre accommodation will open shortly, providing more than 150 units of temporary accommodation for single people. Council staff will be on site 24/7 to assist residents to access support.
“The opening of this facility comes at a time when we expect an increase in demand for accommodation over the colder, winter months, and along with arrangements for extra emergency accommodation, it will provide much needed additional capacity while also reducing the reliance on hotel arrangements.
“We continue to explore all options to increase the availability of accommodation as quickly as possible to help alleviate current pressures further, while our ambitious housing development programme continues to deliver good quality, affordable housing over the longer term.”
