Cathays Park judges Cathays Park to be "the finest civic centre in the British Isles". The area falls within the Cathays electoral ward. Cathays Park was formerly part of Cardiff Castle grounds. The present day character of the area owes much to successive holders of the title the Marquess of Bute, and especially the 3rd Marquess of Bute, an extremely successful and wealthy businessman. They acquired much of the lands in Cathays through investment and by inheritance through a marriage to Charlotte Windsor in 1766. In 1898, the local council bought of land from the 3rd Marquess of Bute to erect a
Cathays under the Freedom of Information Act show that over 70% of the houses in Cathays are now HMOs. The buy-to-let market has deterred young couples, families and first time buyers from setting up home in the area. Cathays High School is an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school that started as a boys Grammar school in 1903 and became a comprehensive high school in 1973. Despite the urbanisation of Cathays there is extensive parkland around the civic centre, including Gorsedd Gardens, Queen Alexandra Gardens, Bute Park and Blackweir. The area is served by Cathays railway station in the east of the area