Driving through some of Cardiff's suburbs it's hard not to notice the increasing amount of new houses being built.
Over the next two decades some 41,000 new homes will be built in the capital as part of the Cardiff County Council's local development plan(LDP), making the city around 30% bigger than it was before the diggers turned up.
Our survey of the current state of the main construction sites reveals that some pockets of land ear-marked in the council's wider expansion plan are still in the planning and consultancy stage, but building has started in some areas and is near to completion in other areas.
From Plasdŵr in the west to St Edeyrn's Village in the east, there are currently 13 main housing developments in the capital, most of which are part of the city's wider expansion plan.
In September 2018 we did a survey of the main developments across Cardiff, here is a summary of what has happened since then.
North West Cardiff - Plasdŵr
The biggest impact of this house building period in the capital will be the creation of a new £2bm 'garden city' called Plasdŵr, filling in land between the suburbs of Radyr and St Fagans in the west of the capital.
The huge new suburb of 7,000 homes will cover over 900 acres.
It is likely to take up to 20 years to complete the homes, schools and infrastructure promised as part of this new suburb.
Plasdŵr will be made-up of five neighbourhoods called Cefntrebane, Groeswen, Hafod, Maesllech and Pendown.
Currently there are four plots being built-on as the part of the first phase of creating Plasdŵr. These are plots 1, 2, 4 and two separate sites by two different house builders on plot 5.
Local residents are already finding it a challenge as the huge amount of construction in the area is causing traffic problems.
Once finished, the first phase of the new suburb will have a total of 630 homes north and south of Llantrisant Road plus a primary school for up to 480 local pupils.
Plot 1 - Parc Plymouth
Plot one of Plasdŵr is called Parc Plymouth and is a Redrow site of 163 two to five bedroom homes being built in three phases.
All of the 83 houses within the first phase have now sold and phase two is now for sale. Overall, approximately 60% of the homes are sold.
This property pocket of Plasdŵr is due for completion by November 2020.
Plot 2 - Cae St Fagans
Comprising of plot 2 of the masterplan for Plasdŵr, Cae St Fagans is another Redrow development currently under construction.
This area of Plasdŵr consists of two phases of building, currently phase one is under construction with 149 homes currently available for sale.
Expected completion date for both phases is June 2023.
Plot 4 - Rhiwlas
Bellway was announced as the developer for this plot (4) of the overall plan in June 2018.
It is proposed that the 13.4 acre Rhiwlas site will comprise a total of 120 homes once finished, adjacent to the north Cardiff suburb of Radyr.
The company states they have drawn up a reserved matter planning application for its proposed Rhiwlas at Plasdŵr development, Heol Isaf and these have been submitted to the local authority for consideration.
If plans are approved, the development will be made up of two, three and four-bedroom homes.
The site has not yet launched but the company are registering interest in the future homes on this plot via their website.
Plot 5 - Cwrt Sant Ioan
The most recent parcel of land to be allocated as part of Plasdŵr was announced in January 2019.
Once completed, this 16.5 acre site south of Llantrisant Road and bordering Radyr, Danescourt and Fairwater will have 215 homes.
The first of the two phases has just been released for sale by Redrow, with five sold so far.
The completion date for this site is March 2025.
Plot 5 - Lewis Homes
Announced in 2019 was the future of the plot of land adjacent to the Cwrt Sant Ioan site and also part of the plot 5 allocation of the Plasdŵr garden city.
The smaller site bordering Llantrisant Road is to be developed by local company Lewis Homes.
The site is likely to offer two, three and four bedroom homes and be ready for late summer 2020.
St Fagans
Further north than Plasdŵr, and on the northern outskirts of St Fagans, two new build sites are nearing completion.
The Barratt Homes site called Meas Y Deri is a mixture of two, three and four bedroom houses.
Now a well-established site, there are currently only eight homes available.
Close to this location can be found the Goitre Fach housing development by David Wilson Homes, again an established site that currently has seven homes released for purchase.
North East Cardiff
In 2016 it was confirmed that the expanse of farmland between the suburbs of Pontprennau and Lisvane, notoriously sold by the Welsh Government in 2012 for a fraction of its current vale, would be the site of 4,500 new homes.
The semi-rural area is marked on the Cardiff County Council's local development plan as site F but is known as Churchlands.
Currently, there are two developers linked to this site.
Plas Ty Draw at Churchlands
This is the first pocket of the Churchlands area that has been allocated to developer Redrow, and consists of three phases of building.
In total, once the site has been finished in June 2025, there will be 380 homes within this particular development.
Currently, the company states that they have sold 52 homes on this section of Churchlands.
Taylor Wimpey at Churchlands
Yet to be named, this parcel of the Churchlands development is currently in the planning stage.
House builder Taylor Wimpey say they are working with the local authority in relation to the outline application and currently anticipate that this will go to committee in April/May.
Details released online suggest that the site is likely to include a new two-form entry primary school and land for a new secondary school, along with shops, food and drink outlets, offices and public open space including parks and gardens.
Taylor Wimpey says affordable housing will be provided on the 330-hectare development, as well as community facilities.
East Cardiff
It's not only the west and north of the city that is experience wide-spread growth, to the east the diggers have been hard at work for a while.
St Edeyrn's Village
A large section of land labeled G on the city-wide masterplan, sandwiched between Pontprennau and Old St Mellons, has been redeveloped over a number of years.
Nearing completion, the site has expanded the tiny hamlet of St Edeyrn's into an area of 1,300 homes built predominantly by house building companies Persimmon and Charles Church.
It is proposed this new area will also have an interchange to join Rhymney Line rail services.
Highfields
Part of the development of the east of the city and on the edge of the St Edeyrn's site, Highfields is a development by Bellway just off the popular residential street Church Road, within Old St Mellons.
Highfields is due to complete by July 2020 and is made up fo 156 homes, with only three houses left to buy at the site.
Llandaff
With the new BBC Headquarters in Cardiff city centre ready to welcome staff from the old HQ site at Llantrisant Road in Llandaff, Taylor Wimpey have announced that planning permission for the company to build on the old site has been granted by the county council.
The company say that they still anticipate the purchase of the building will be complete by June 2020 and are working closely with the BBC to realise that outcome.
The new site is likely to be called Llandaff Park.
Creigiau
Called Llantilltern Village, work started in September 2019 on a new development north of Cardiff at Junction 33 of the M4 at south Creugiau.
Persimmon Homes and the company’s sister brand Charles Church are building 1,500 new homes in total, a new state-of-the-art two-form entry primary school and associated nursery on site, which has to be built before the 550th property is occupied.
The developer will also have to provide £1.9m for additional English school places and £853,000 for Welsh pupils.
The developer has stated there will also be two full-sized playing fields, allotments and other play areas, plus all new roads will have either a cycle-only or shared bike lane, plus pedestrian paths.
There will be a park and ride with 1,000 spaces that has to be delivered within the first phase of works.
According to the house builder, the site will also provide a key location for the new South East Metro, which will pass through the development and link to the new park and ride site.
There is also a section of the site ear-marked as an area for employment.
Homes have just been released for sale at this site.
