A PROPERTY in Abergavenny earmarked for a home providing small-scale residential care facilities for up to five young people has cost Monmouthshire County Council nearly £1.2 million.

Information obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted the BBC’s shared data unit, working alongside the Abergavenny Chronicle, showed Monmouthshire County Council purchased a property on Park Street marketed by Christie Residential for £685,000 on March 20, 2025 with the council later spending an additional £506,707.65 for refurbishments at the six bedroom detached property.

The refurbishments are being completed by the main contractor TW Group, which the council says was appointed through an “extensive open tender invite process through advice from Ardal”, the council’s procurement team at Cardiff City Council.

A spokesman for MCC told the Chronicle it was felt the total cost of £1,191,707.65 represented ‘value for money’. The overall cost of the property was covered by capital grants, specifically The Welsh Government’s Housing with Care Fund (HCF).

Monmouthshire County Council applied for funding for the project through HCF Objective 2, which focuses on short-to-medium-term community accommodation and includes small-scale residential care facilities for children with high or complex needs and transitional accommodation for young people leaving care. Objective 2 HCF schemes are eligible for up to 100 per cent of costs.

The grants are administered by the Welsh Government which outlined the process of how they are awarded, explaining that Regional Programme Boards - in this case the Gwent Regional Programme Board - decide which schemes to prioritise for the Housing with Care Fund and submit to the Welsh Government.

The Welsh Government confirmed it has so far provided £81,500 of construction costs with the council’s funding letter allowing a claim of up to £625,578 in this financial year.