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Land and housing development in Swansea
Housing schemes on Swansea land shaped by copper smelting, coal and the River Tawe, delivered with our own groundworks team.
Developing land in Swansea
Swansea is the western end of the area we cover, around 50 minutes from our Mountain Ash base. We work with landowners, housing associations, Swansea Council and investors to take plots from bare ground to finished homes, with our own team doing the groundworks rather than buying them in.
Our completed work is further east, so there is no Swansea project to show you yet. The case for us is the ground: copper smelting and coal mining have left their mark here, and our CHAS accredited team, CSCS, CPCS and Street Works certified, brings more than 50 years combined experience of drainage, foundations and site infrastructure.
Old copperworks, coal and the Tawe: what lies under a Swansea site
In the 19th century Swansea was the world's leading centre for copper smelting, and the works lined the lower Swansea Valley at Hafod, Morfa and Landore. When they closed, the valley floor was left derelict for decades. The Lower Swansea Valley Project, set up in 1961, became a pioneering land reclamation effort, and by the 1980s more than 1,000 acres of derelict land had been treated.
Reclaimed land is buildable, but it raises questions a greenfield plot does not. A site near Landore, Bonymaen or the Swansea Enterprise Park may carry made ground, old foundations or contamination, and a ground investigation decides what has to be removed, treated or built over. Parts of Swansea also lie on the South Wales Coalfield, so a Coal Mining Risk Assessment may be needed if a site falls inside a Development High Risk Area.
Flood risk follows the river. Swansea Council identifies the lower Swansea Valley as an area at high risk of flooding from the River Tawe, the Nant-y-Fendrod and the Nant Bran. The Natural Resources Wales Flood Map for Planning, under TAN 15, sets out how that affects a scheme, and sustainable drainage has to be approved by Swansea Council, as the SuDS Approval Body, before construction starts.
Away from the valley floor, Morriston, Clydach, Sketty and Gorseinon each bring their own levels and access. Planning decisions rest on the Swansea Local Development Plan 2010 to 2025, adopted in February 2019, while the council prepares LDP2 to run to 2038. We will visit your land, look at the ground and drainage with you, and set out what it takes to turn it into homes.
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 Swansea
Yes. Swansea is the furthest of our areas at around 50 minutes from Mountain Ash, and we take on land across the city and county. Our completed homes and retaining work are further east, in Nelson and Blaenau Gwent, and we can talk you through both.
Often, but the ground has to be understood first. Land once used for copper smelting or other industry may hold made ground, old structures or contamination. A ground investigation shows what needs removing or treating, and the foundations and drainage are designed from those findings.
Only where the site lies within a Development High Risk Area. Parts of Swansea are on the South Wales Coalfield, and most planning applications in those areas need a Coal Mining Risk Assessment. The Mining Remediation Authority, formerly known as the Coal Authority, publishes the mapping.
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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