A DERELICT building near Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital is set to be turned into 15 flats as part of a multi-million Welsh Government regeneration project.

The former hospital offices building on Cardiff Road is to be revamped into affordable homes as one of the first projects to benefit from the Newport Vibrant and Viable Places(V&VP) scheme.

Newport council’s planning committee approved a planning application for the development despite concerns from one ward councillor about the lack of car parking in the area.

The £1.5 million conversion will provide 11 one bedroom apartments and four two bedroom apartments which will either be rented or purchased through a shared ownership scheme.

Seren Group, a Newport-based registered social landlord behind the project, says it bought the property for £200,000 from Willis Construction, who will develop the building with Seren.

A spokeswoman for Seren said: “The property occupies an extremely prominent position on Cardiff Road, adjacent to the Royal Gwent Hospital.

“Having laid empty for many years it had become the subject of anti-social behaviour problems and had become something of an eyesore.”

It is hoped work will start in April.

At a Newport council meeting on Wednesday, planning committee members agreed to grant planning permission for the project with only one councillor voting against.

Stow Hill Labour councillor Miqdad Al-Nuaimi objected, citing a lack of parking for the flats in an area that has parking issues with the hospital nearby.