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Land and housing development in Cardiff
Housing development for Cardiff sites, from low-lying ground near the Bay to the rising land of the northern suburbs.
Developing land in Cardiff
We take sites in Cardiff from bare land to finished homes for landowners, housing associations, the council and investors. C&M Developments is based in Mountain Ash, around 30 to 40 minutes up the A470, and our own groundworks team carries a scheme from the first excavation to the finished roads and drains.
We have no Cardiff project to show you yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we bring is more than 50 years combined experience in drainage, foundations, retaining structures and reinforced concrete, CHAS accreditation, and CSCS, CPCS and Street Works certification, which counts on city plots where work reaches the public highway.
Is your Cardiff site low-lying, sloping or somewhere in between?
Much of Cardiff is flat. The Taff, the Ely and the Rhymney all reach the sea here, and the land stays low until you climb towards Penylan and Cyncoed. Further north, Llanishen, Rhiwbina and Radyr sit on rising ground below the ridge that divides the city from Caerphilly, where a plot can need retaining structures much like a site in the Valleys.
Near the water, flood risk leads the conversation. The Cardiff Bay Barrage, completed in 1999, keeps out the tide and holds back the Taff and the Ely, so the remaining risk in the south of the city depends on how the bay stores river water at high tide. Under TAN 15, in force since 31 March 2025, the Natural Resources Wales Flood Map for Planning decides how a site in Grangetown, Splott or Butetown is assessed. It is worth reading before an offer on land is agreed.
Drainage is the other early question. Cardiff Council is the SuDS Approval Body, and a scheme of more than one home, or with 100 square metres or more of construction, needs its sustainable drainage approved before work starts. Where foul drainage will join the public sewer, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water requires a Section 104 adoption agreement first. On a tight infill plot in Canton or Roath, finding room to store surface water can change the whole layout.
Cardiff Council's Local Development Plan, adopted in 2016, runs to 2026, and its Replacement LDP for 2021 to 2036 has been going through independent examination. We follow both, visit Cardiff sites from our Mountain Ash base, and give you a plain account of the ground, the drainage and the build before you commit.
From the first site walk to the keys
- 1Get in touch and walk the site
- 2Prove the ground
- 3Get it out of the ground
- 4Build
- 5Hand over
Questions about Cardiff
Yes. We are based in Mountain Ash, around 30 to 40 minutes away, and we take on Cardiff sites for landowners, housing associations, councils and investors. We have not yet completed a Cardiff project, so we point to our homes at Heol Fawr in Nelson and our work for Tai Calon.
It depends on where the site sits on the Natural Resources Wales Flood Map for Planning. Under TAN 15, which came into force on 31 March 2025, that map shapes how a planning application is assessed, so we check it before any layout is drawn.
Two bodies are involved. Cardiff Council, as the SuDS Approval Body, must approve the sustainable drainage before construction starts, which has been required across Wales since January 2019. If foul drainage will join the public sewer, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water needs a Section 104 adoption agreement in place first.
Get in touch
Got land, or a scheme that needs delivering? Tell us about the site and we will arrange a call, then meet you there to walk it together.
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