Existing tenants to be relocated so that council flats in Blyth can be demolished

The 65 flats and 38 maisonettes will make way for newer, more energy efficient housing. At Tuesday’s meeting of the council’s cabinet, it was explained that there was limited demand for the one bedroom homes.

Despite the fact that there are more than 4,000 people on the council’s housing register, many of the homes are standing empty. The council say there is much more demand for two, three and four bedroom houses and bungalows.

The maisonettes in particular are said to be undesirable to families with young children. Access to the maisonettes is on the first floor without a lift, and they lack private gardens or parking.

Existing tenants of the properties, located on Delaval Terrace, Windmill Grove, Marlow Streer, Harper Street, and at Tynedale Drive 1a-1l, will now be informed of the proposals.

Any residents of the properties will be awarded home loss and disturbance payments if they have to relocate.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting, portfolio holder for housing Cllr Colin Horncastle admitted that a report on the issue was “negative”. However, he added that this referred to the properties and not the tenants.

He continued: “There is very, very low demand and a lot of these homes are standing empty, causing a lot of antisocial behaviour. They are constantly being vandalised and the housing department is having to do repairs.

“Nobody wants these properties now, they do not serve a purpose. There is very low demand for one bedroom flats.

“We have looked at trying to remodel these properties into larger ones, but we have found that we cannot do that.”

The report also outlined that the concrete structures of the homes, which date back to the 1960s, all show signs of defects which would need fixing should the blocks be left in situ. It stated that a solution would be “costly but necessary” to prevent further deterioration.

Cllr Horncastle added: “We need to agree to demolish these properties but look after our tenants and make it a priority to get them rehoused. We have then got empty sites where we can build new, modern, energy efficient homes that are the type of homes people want.”