Residents living on a new Cardiff social housing estate, Lansdowne House in Canton, say they feel scared amid claims of “dangerous” conditions. The £24m development, completed in summer 2025, consists of 106 homes on the former Lansdowne Hospital site.
Heat Issues Plague Residents
Unbearably hot temperatures, overheating fridges, warm water from cold taps, flooding, and loud noise from flats below are just some of the issues raised. A mother and child have been sleeping in their living room due to stifling bedroom temperatures. A young epileptic man with a stitched-up facial injury says his seizures are triggered by the heat. A young woman with an almost empty fridge described being unable to feed herself properly due to her fridge repeatedly failing. In one flat, the thermostat read 27.5°C despite it being 19°C outside.
“I would go anywhere now,” one woman told WalesOnline. “I just feel stuck in a prison. It’s not a home. This is the worst place I’ve ever lived. The last property was covered in black mould and I would rather go back. I could breathe better.”
Epileptic Seizures Linked to Heat
A 46-year-old woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, lives in a top-floor flat with her son, who has epilepsy. His two main triggers are heat and poor sleep. On June 20, he suffered a bad seizure, falling face-first onto a cabinet, resulting in a facial injury requiring stitches. The mum said: “Since then my anxiety has gone through the roof. I am noticing in the mornings that his hands are turned in, which is a sign of a seizure. They have definitely increased in frequency.” She added that she had to sedate him under guidance from the epilepsy team during a heatwave.
The woman, an NHS nurse, said she is averaging three hours of sleep a night and has told her bosses she is worried about making a mistake. Her son was supposed to enrol at college but his health prevented it. “When people have conditions you need to help them build their life but they won’t be able to do that while living on this development,” she said.
Fridge Failures and Food Waste
A 30-year-old woman in another block said she has gone through two fridge-freezers since moving in six months ago, which she attributes to the heat. “My milk is warm – it’s like soup. The new fridge is gone but I have nowhere else to chill my food so I still have it plugged in – I’m worried it’s a fire hazard.” She has a medical condition affecting her nerves, requiring a steroid procedure that was postponed due to poor nutrition, which she says is likely due to the fridge issue. She received only one £50 voucher for lost food.
She also reported skin issues, showing red, dry, and blistered skin, which she believes is triggered by tap water from a tank on the development. “If you drink a glass of water from the tap it is not normal – it tastes kind of stale,” she said.
Noise and Flooding Complaints
Rachel Sweet, 58, lives in another top-floor flat and said her main concern is noise from those below, which she has never experienced on a top floor before. “I have a major noise issue here. The day after I moved in I had to buy very expensive headphones.” She also experienced flooding two days after moving in, with water seeping through patio doors during heavy rain. “It trickles in. There’s something not quite right with the doors.”
Rachel said an air conditioning unit delivered during the June heatwave helped, but temperatures hit 38°C. “I lived in Iraq where the traffic lights melt and it felt hotter in this building than it did over there.”
Response from Housing Association and Builder
A spokesman for Hafod said: “The welfare and wellbeing of our customers is paramount and we are taking the concerns raised very seriously. We have installed temperature and humidity sensors, sourced portable air conditioning units, and are actively investigating defects.” A representative from Lovell said: “We are aware of this matter and are working in close consultation with Hafod. We take residents’ health and safety extremely seriously.”
Local MP Alex Barros-Curtis said: “It is deeply frustrating to hear about the challenges residents are facing and I have been supporting residents through these issues. People deserve to feel safe and comfortable in their own homes.”
