The Mill partners celebrate hundreds of affordable quality homes in Cardiff

Celebrating the completion of The Mill

Principality Building Society and partners from housing associations, developers and the Welsh Government came together at the Wales Millennium Centre to celebrate the completion of a flagship development that provided 800 quality homes in the Welsh capital. 

The event, hosted in collaboration with Principality Building Society, Tirion Homes and Lovell Homes marked the completion of The Mill in West Cardiff. The £150m housing development, which has spanned over 10 years since the first phase began, funded by Principality Commercial, the lending arm of Wales’ largest building society, and delivered in partnership with Welsh Government, Tirion Homes, Lovell Homes and Cadwyn Housing Association. 

Representatives from Cadwyn Housing (Cadarn Group), Welsh Government, Members of the Senedd, M&G Investment, Community Housing Cymru attended the celebratory event, which also saw a keynote speech from Jayne Bryant, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government.

More about The Mill

Formerly the Arjo Wiggins paper mill site, half of the 800 homes were built specifically for affordable rent through Tirion Homes, including 75 made available as social housing. A total of 358 properties were sold on the open market by Lovell Homes. 

The landmark project has transformed what was a derelict, polluted site into a sustainable new community for Cardiff. 

The partnership began in 2011, after the land was sold to partners and Welsh Government began extensive remediation work to make the land habitable. The first phase of development began in January 2017 with the final phase being completed in late 2024.

Legislation requirements meant that 25% of the site was required to be affordable – but the scheme delivered twice that amount, with 75 social housing units, 125 intermediate rents and 200 discounted rents.

A word from our Commercial Lending Director

Speaking about the event, Richard Wales, Commercial Lending Director at Principality Building Society said: “We are proud to celebrate the success of The Mill development site in Cardiff, which marks over a decade of collaboration with our partners, Tirion Homes, Lovell Homes, and the Welsh Government. 

“As a leading Welsh lender, our investment in this long-term flagship project aligns with objectives of better homes, secure futures and a fairer society by providing quality, affordable homes to make more possible in the community. It was a pleasure to celebrate that legacy by bringing together partners, past and present.” 

Comments from our partners

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, said:

“It was wonderful to celebrate the success of the Mill development and the delivery of much needed affordable homes in the area.

“We know that good quality housing provides more opportunities for people and families and it’s fantastic that through our loan investment and working in partnership we’ve been able to give the site a new lease of life.”

David Ward, Chief Executive Officer at Tirion Homes, said: 

“The Mill has been a resounding success. It is more than just a bricks and mortar development, it is a new sustainable community created through a collaboration between Tirion Homes and our partners, Principality Building Society and Welsh Government, whose values and objectives are aligned. Lovell and Cadwyn have also played an important role in the partnership helping ensure success. However, while The Mill development began more than a decade ago, the challenges we faced then, are even more pertinent today.

“We need to build on the success of The Mill and work with partners to regenerate the many brownfield sites we have across Wales. The creation of new communities with a focus on affordable housing and placemaking will help address the housing crisis and support economic growth. Tirion Homes is ideally placed to scale up our partnerships using innovative private finance to accelerate the delivery of much needed homes whilst reducing the call on scarce public finance.”

Gemma Clissett, Regional Partnerships Director at Lovell Homes, said: 

“The Mill has been over a decade in the making, and regenerating this brownfield site into a vibrant community and urban village of over 800 homes is an accomplishment we are incredibly proud of. Bringing The Mill to life has been a real honour and it was a pleasure to celebrate the scheme’s success with all our partners. The Mill is a project that will remain close to our hearts at Lovell and help shape how we deliver future large-scale developments.”