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Leeds residents to be rehoused from six tower blocks set for demolition
Hundreds of residents in Leeds are set to be rehoused as part of plans to demolish six 1960s tower blocks in the city.
Leeds City Council said refurbishing the tower blocks in Seacroft, Moortown and Armley was “financially unviable”, meaning the tenants of the 345 occupied flats across the blocks would be moved out.
The affected blocks are Bailey and Brooklands Towers, Ramshead Heights, Leafield Towers, Raynville Court and Raynville Grange.
The buildings have been in use since 1960 and 1961, and have “exceeded their original design life, are in poor condition, and have significant investment needs”.
The process of moving out and rehousing the hundreds of tenants will cost £5.27m, and those impacted will be given ‘Band A’ priority on their housing applications.
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In a report, the council said there were “significant challenges to maintain water tightness and undertake repairs and maintenance that represent value for money, as well as significant impacts on the quality of lives of many residents”.
“This is also supported by low customer satisfaction ratings from residents for heating and insulation, and overall quality of their home.”
Leeds said it hopes the sites will be redeveloped for housing, but that it is “important to consider how sites can be developed affordably, or sold to make the best use of resources”.
While resident response has been “constructive”, eight per cent of households told the council they were “anxious or unhappy about moving from a home in which they had been settled for many years”.
People who have lived in the flats for more than 12 months will likely qualify for compensation.
The council added that the process would “create additional pressures on the availability of social housing for people with applications on the Leeds Homes Register”.
The report said rehousing would take an estimated two years for three of the towers, and three years for the other three. The timescales are considered “feasible but challenging”.
Last week, Jess Lennox, executive member for housing, said the demolition is “an important step towards future-proofing the council’s housing stock”.
“However, we understand the impact that this will have on our residents across the sites, and I would like to extend my thanks for their constructive engagement with the council so far.
“We’ve undertaken extensive and proactive consultation with all of our impacted residents and will continue to do so as we are absolutely committed to ensuring any disruption is minimal.”
In July, the council revealed it was carrying out precautionary checks for radon gas in the Morley, Middleton and Rothwell areas.
One month later, Leeds said the tests in more than 9,000 council-owned homes in Leeds are appropriate and proportionate after some concern was raised by residents.
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