A six-storey student block in Swansea is due to open as temporary housing accommodation next February, and more buildings could potentially follow suit. People who are homeless or at risk of being homeless will be supported by the council at 76 studios at the St Helen's Road building in a joint project with housing association Codi Group.
Legal agreement signed
The council's planning committee was told earlier this year that Codi would acquire the building, and a legal agreement between Codi, the authority, and Welsh Government has now been signed.
Council housing manager Steve Porter told a meeting this week it was scheduled to open in February and would be the second large building reconfigured as temporary accommodation, following the reopening earlier this year of Llys Glas – a 68-room supported housing project in Orchard Street.
Reducing reliance on bed and breakfast
The aim is to reduce reliance on costly bed and breakfast accommodation and give people more support so they can move on to longer-term tenancies elsewhere. Welsh Government auditors said in a new report the council had a good understanding of homelessness pressures and had redesigned its approach accordingly. But they said it hadn't clearly planned how it would deal with a limited supply of accommodation for those receiving support to move into.
The Audit Wales report said the council should develop a new framework to better understand if its model was providing value for money, with indicators such as length of stays and repeat homeless presentations.
Expansion possible
Mr Porter, community housing operations manager, said the recommendation was fair and the framework now being drawn up would hopefully measure the right things. “And if it is the right model we can look to expand it to other projects – a third or fourth project in time – with the caveat that that's not easy,” he said, addressing the council's governance and audit committee.
Councils everywhere help homeless people and those at risk of having nowhere to live, and many have large housing waiting lists. Swansea spent £6m and £7.2m on temporary bed and breakfast accommodation in 2024-25 and 2025-26 respectively, although it clawed some of it back.
Audit Wales' report said the council received an average of 80 homelessness presentations per week in 2025-26 and accommodated 341 “households” in bed and breakfast accommodation in March, with the number falling when Llys Glas opened.
Cllr Mike White said housing staff and the rough sleepers intervention team did sterling work in Swansea and that some people didn't engage with support offered. “It's not an easy area to look after,” he said.
Mr Porter was asked if the early prisoner release scheme might increase homelessness in Swansea. He said there were local connection rules in place for released prisoners and the council regularly met probation service staff. “So we know who is coming out – the trouble is managing that sometimes and finding the right temporary accommodation,” he said.
