MIPIM: grant money difficult to spend in Cardiff, says development figure

News13.03.245.30 PM by Stephen Delahunty

Cardiff Council’s assistant director of development and regeneration has spoken about the challenges of spending social housing grant and why MIPIM offers a chance to create growth and jobs across the region.

Attendees entering the MIPIM event in Cannes, France (picture: S d'Halloy/Images & Co)

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MIPIM: grant money difficult to spend in Cardiff, says development figure #UKhousing

Cardiff Council’s assistant director of development and regeneration has spoken about the challenges of spending social housing grant #UKhousing

David Jaques spoke to Inside Housing on Tuesday as part of the Cardiff Capital Region’s delegation at the giant international property event in Cannes, France.

At this year’s MIPIM conference, representatives from Cardiff presented its ambitious £15bn pipeline of investable regeneration projects, including a 500 acre green energy park, leisure developments and a new city quarter.

This includes plans for 2,500 affordable homes programme across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

However, Mr Jaques painted a challenging picture, one he described as the worst in his 22 years in the sector. But he also explained how his attendance at MIPIM was about securing growth through jobs in key industries and green technology for the devolved nation.

He said: “In Cardiff, we’re really struggling this year to spend our social housing grant because of the market, the struggling contracting chain and the delays that we’ve seen across projects for the first time in years. We haven’t been able to spend all of our social housing grant, but you can’t roll it over.”

Mr Jaques said he felt it would be better if any underspend could be rolled over into the next year once schemes had been approved. He also discussed the challenge of finding temporary accommodation in the Welsh capital, the demand for which has increased around 150% in the past few years.

“We have invested in temporary accommodation over the years but it hasn’t kept up with demand. I think we’ve had a 150% increase in the demand, at the same time as a 100% increase in what we’ve delivered,” he added.

“So there’s a gap and it’s made worse by the market. In development, building new homes takes a long time, and we’ve got a smaller pool of contractors working in the region due to two or three big developers going bust in recent years. This has had a huge impact.”

Cardiff’s wider housing-led programme totals around £1bn of investment across 65 sites that will deliver around 4,500 homes. The programme is currently out to tender for delivery partners.

Beyond housing, the delegation represents half of the Welsh economy, the Cardiff Capital Region comprises 10 local authorities working together to showcase ambitious investment opportunities – supported by the £1.2bn city deal, a wide range of new business funding streams, and the Welsh government’s carbon neutral targets.

So for MIPIM, Mr Jaques said it is about the opportunity to speak to investors about the wider infrastructure and development picture, and attracting businesses that create jobs across the region.

He said: “There’s big interest from the Welsh government in science and medicine, modular construction and renewable technologies so the opportunity here is in things like battery storage and solar panels.

“We don’t have an MMC factory in Wales so that is a priority, and there’s huge demand for all of our homes to meet really high efficiency standards… with Passivhaus and the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. But there’s not enough local companies to drive growth and create jobs in some of these areas, which is why MIPIM is a really important opportunity for us.”

Earlier this month, the Welsh minister for climate change revealed that the building safety regime in Wales will apply to all multi-occupied buildings in the country that contain two or more homes, regardless of height.