Crate training, when can we release at night?

I have a 6m old Old English Sheepdog, and he does very well free roaming the front of our house that we gate off while my husband and I are at work, but I really want to snuggle him at night 😅 I firmly believe he should be crate trained for safety, but when do you think he could free roam the back of the house at night by our bedroom? He has been very good with potty training, I will say 90% there. We do have a cat so we are working on them being comfortable together, the dog is learning to give the cat space.