AFFORDABLE homes could be built on a “vacant and unkept” patch of land in Newport that has stood empty for more than 40 years.

The brownfield site, in the Gaer neighbourhood, could be redeveloped for 20 new apartments, under new plans submitted to Newport City Council.

Each apartment will have one bedroom and will be suitable for up to two people, accessible via Marryat Walk.

They will also each contain an open-plan kitchen, lounge and dining room area; a bathroom with storage cupboard, and a hallway with store cupboard, according to the proposals.

Outside, the apartments will be of a “contemporary” design, made from red brick with grey-coloured render above. At the rear of the development, the applicant has proposed adding balconies with glazed doors and screens, serving the open plan areas of each home.

Planning permission was previously granted for a separate application, for up to nine homes on the same site.

The new application for 20 affordable apartments has been submitted by Castell Group and “a registered social landlord”.

Local residents were surveyed as part of a pre-application consultation, and neighbours raised some questions about the development, including that the apartments would need extra room for cars, when parking locally is “already a problem and dangerous”.

The applicant said parking would comply with city council guidance, according to a report by agents LRM Planning Ltd.

Residents also raised concerns about the three-storey apartment building overlooking neighbouring properties. In response, the applicant said the plans include “landscape buffers” and there was already “mature, established vegetation” between the proposed apartments and existing homes.

Additional concerns about the type of residents at the new apartments and any anti-social behaviour are “not a material planning consideration”, the applicant added.

LRM Planning noted the city council had “calculated an annual shortfall of affordable houses in Newport to be 559 each year”, including a deficit of 35 social rent homes annually in the Gaer neighbourhood.

“This figure rises to 57, when other types of affordable housing are also considered,” the agents said. “In light of the above, it is considered that the principle of the proposal which will deliver 20 much-needed affordable homes is justified.”

The application is currently out for consultation and can be viewed on the Newport City Council website under reference 23/1109.