Pembrokeshire councillors approve purchase of seven new-build council houses

Pembrokeshire councillors have backed plans to buy seven more ‘council houses’ at a seaside village site where the authority bought 21 last year.
At its October 5 meeting, Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet was asked to buy seven new-build homes — two and three-bedroom houses — under construction at Persimmon Homes Ltd’s Ger Y Mor site in Saundersfoot.
Cabinet approval was needed because the properties’ combined price exceeded £1 million, a report by housing cabinet member Cllr Michelle Bateman said.
In 2025, the Cabinet agreed to buy 21 affordable homes at the site, then known as Sandy Hill Road, as part of the developer’s planning obligation for the 72-home open-market scheme.
Six of those homes have been delivered this financial year, with another nine due by the end of the calendar year.
Cllr Bateman, who proposed the 2025 purchase, said that scheme for “21 council houses” and socially rented properties would “offer high-quality accommodation for local people in an area with a high proportion of second homes and holiday accommodation”.
The report for the latest scheme said the Welsh Government had provisionally assigned Social Housing Grant funding for the latest purchase.
It said 263 people on the housing register, in the gold and silver bands for the highest housing need, had selected the area as a place to live.
The latest Local Housing Market Assessment shows a need for 175 affordable homes in Saundersfoot—130 for social rent and 45 for intermediate rent.
The report said: “The need to provide additional affordable and social housing is a high priority for the council and if acquired, these new homes will be let at social housing and intermediate rents in line with the council’s rent policy, making the homes affordable for those in need.”
It concluded: “From the initial allocations of properties already purchased, demand for these properties has been high and a local lettings policy has been in place.
“The need for affordable housing in Pembrokeshire is significant and if the council were to proceed with the package deal, it would help the council to meet housing demand in the area and reflect the corporate priority of increasing the council’s stock of affordable housing.”
After a private session held without the public, members unanimously backed the recommendation to buy the seven homes. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​