Key Points
- The Swansea Council has plans to increase its provision of council-managed children’s homes by four.
- According to Herald.Wales, the new provision may be available as early as summer 2028 if all goes well.
- Currently, the cost of the privately arranged placement for children from Swansea is around £6,200 weekly on average.
- By establishing additional homes, the council would be able to have better control over their provision and help children stay closer to home.
- The Swansea Council currently operates four children’s residential care homes.
- They had previously spoken about increasing their small-scale provision as part of the larger social care investment program.
Wales (Wales Times) November 13, 2026 — uk/local/swansea/swansea-council/">Swansea Council plans to create four more council-run children’s homes as it seeks to expand its in-house residential care capacity, according to reporting by Herald.Wales. The proposals come amid concern over the cost and availability of private placements, which are reported to average £6,200 per child per week.
The council’s plans, as reported by Herald.Wales, could see the new homes open in summer 2028. The authority says additional council-run provision would give it greater control over care arrangements and allow more children to be cared for closer to their families and communities.
Why does Swansea want more homes?
As reported by Herald.Wales, Swansea Council is responding to rising costs and limited availability in the private residential care market. The reported average cost of £6,200 a week for a private placement highlights the financial pressure facing local authorities that must find suitable accommodation for children in care.
The council already runs four children’s residential care homes. Expanding that provision would increase the number of places it can directly manage, rather than relying on external providers for children who need residential care.
Swansea Council’s corporate plan has previously stated that it will “strive to provide new children’s care facilities within Swansea” and progress a new facility offering “high quality, not for profit, local placements when most needed”.
What would the new homes provide?
The four proposed homes would be council-run rather than privately operated. According to Herald.Wales, the authority believes this would give it greater control over the care provided and support more children to stay within Swansea rather than being placed further away.
The proposal is part of a wider effort to develop more local, not-for-profit residential provision. Swansea Council has previously said that developing newly purchased homes was ongoing, with a forecast completion date in early 2027.
How much do private placements cost?
As reported by Herald.Wales, private placements in Swansea are reported to average £6,200 a week. That figure represents the reported average cost to the council of placing a child with an external residential provider.
The council has not been reported as saying that all private placements cost that amount, nor that the proposed homes would immediately replace every external placement. The proposal instead forms part of a broader strategy to increase council-controlled capacity where children need residential care.
What has Swansea Council said before?
Swansea Council has previously discussed the pressures affecting residential provision. In 2022, the authority’s principal officer for residential services, Chris Griffiths, said some private children’s residential homes were backing out from accepting children from Wales because of the Welsh Government’s plans to eliminate profit from the system, as reported by Nation.Cymru.
At that time, Mr Griffiths said new private providers would need not-for-profit status when registering a residential home from April 2023, while existing providers would need to become not-for-profit by April 2027.
He also said Swansea Council had around 30 children and young people placed in residential care homes, three of whom were outside Wales. Around 10 were in Swansea, with the remainder in other parts of Wales.
Is this part of a wider investment?
Yes. The proposal aligns with Swansea Council’s wider programme of social-services investment. Nation.Cymru reported in 2025 that the council intended to spend £34.5m on building and designing social-services projects between 2025 and 2028, while seeking Welsh Government grant funding and other external funding where possible.
That reporting said the programme included more small-scale children’s homes, early help hubs and other facilities. It also identified further in-house bed spaces for vulnerable children as a project on the council’s longer-term list.
At a cabinet meeting on November 19, 2025, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for care services, Councillor Louise Gibbard, described the schemes as “exciting developments” and said they were expected to make a “fantastic difference”.
What happens next?
The reported timetable suggests the four additional homes could open in summer 2028. However, the reporting available does not state whether planning permission has been granted, which sites have been selected, how many children each home would accommodate, or the total capital cost of the four homes.
Swansea Council’s Forward Plan for 2026/27 covers decisions due before Cabinet and Council between October 30, 2026 and February 28, 2027. The available reporting does not identify a specific cabinet decision date for the four homes.
Background of the development
Swansea Council has operated children’s residential care homes for several years and has previously said it wanted to expand in-house provision. In 2022, the authority had four children’s residential care homes and was already looking to increase capacity, according to reporting by Nation.Cymru.
The wider policy context includes the Welsh Government’s move to remove profit from children’s residential care. Existing private providers were reported to need not-for-profit status by April 2027, while new providers registering homes from April 2023 were required to have not-for-profit status.
Swansea Council’s corporate plan also commits the authority to developing new children’s care facilities and providing high-quality, not-for-profit local placements when needed. The council has said its newly purchased homes were forecast to be completed in early 2027.
Prediction: What it could mean for Swansea families
For children in care and their families in Swansea, the proposed homes could mean more opportunities to remain in the city, close to familiar schools, friends, family members and support networks. If the council succeeds in opening the homes by summer 2028, it may be able to reduce the number of children placed outside Swansea or elsewhere in Wales.
For foster carers, social workers and local care providers, additional council-run homes could change the balance between in-house and external provision. The council may have more direct oversight of placements, but it would also need sufficient trained staff, suitable properties, registration approvals and ongoing revenue funding to operate the homes safely.
For council taxpayers, the development could reduce exposure to high private-placement costs over time, although building and running council homes involves upfront capital spending and continuing staffing costs. The reported £6,200 weekly average for private placements indicates why the authority sees local, council-run provision as a potential way to manage future placement demand.
