History

Merthyr Tydfil was the cradle of the industrial revolution. One result of this is that the town has a large number of industrial terraced housing, some of the oldest in Britain. In the early to mid 1970’s an action group ‘Merthyr Housing Group’ was formed out of a local branch of Shelter to address two major problems:

Shortage of suitable specialist accommodation for the elderly, disabled, single people and young couples

The urgent action needed to address the decay in terraced housing communities

Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association was established in 1977 as a non-profit making Industrial and Provident Society with non-charitable rules (which were changed to charitable based rules in 1998). Initially the Association worked in the specific areas of Dowlais, Aberfan, Troedyrhiw and Cefn Coed. The work of the Association gradually spread to encompass the whole of the local authority borough of Merthyr Tydfil.

In March 1989 the Association had 513 units in management and through targeting acquisitions and rehabilitation had considerably improved the fabric of communities such as Dowlais. Since 1989 and the advent of mixed funding the Association has continued developing primarily new buildings on infill sites and as at March 31st 2020 we had 1,147 units in management.

In keeping with its strong sense of history and community the Association has developed a number of landmark schemes which have assisted in the preservation of historic buildings. Two examples of these are the elderly persons scheme at Dowlais Stables (which has been of continuing interest to HRH Prince Charles over the last fifteen years) and Taibach Cottages in Pentrebach. In developing new buildings the Association is very conscious of the existing environment and seeks to compliment existing buildings and enhance the community.

The strong relationships evolved over these years with the district and county councils are continuing with the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. Close links are also maintained with other voluntary organisations in the housing field, and we provide accommodation through a number of supported housing schemes.