Trust takes on dam homes

The village was built to house key workers building the reservoirs

More than a dozen homes in Elan village in Powys have been put into trust, in an attempt to safeguard its heritage.

The Elan Village Trust has bought the 13 homes in the village near the valley's famous dams near Rhayader in Powys.

Tenants living in them mostly work in the water industry or on the village estate.

Neither the trust or Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, the former owners, would reveal the exact cost of buying the homes.

Chairman of trustees John Evans: "With property prices as high as they are, these would be quite beyond the means of local people on an average Powys wage if they ever came onto the open market."

Dwr Cymru conceded that if the houses had remained in their hands they would have had a duty to ensure that they realised their full market value.

But the company denied that the only reason they sold to the trust was to prevent them passing into the hands of people from outside of the community.

A spokesman said they felt that the communities interests would be better served with the houses in the hands of the trust.

The trust says it is a worthy way of marking the centenary of the reservoirs

This year is the centenary of the Elan dam network being opened by King Edward VII.

The trust was set up in 1989 after the privatisation of Welsh Water but this is the first time it has acquired homes, in addition to its 30 agricultural holdings on the estate.

Welsh Water has owned most houses in the village after the industry was reorganised 30 years ago.