Senior councillors are anticipated to present the inexperienced gentle to the mothballing of six tower blocks across the city next week. They are Bailey Towers, Brooklands Towers and Ramshead Heights in Seacroft; Leafield Towers in Moortown; and Raynville Court and Raynville Grange in west Leeds.
Officers say the blocks have reached the top of their helpful life and have concluded it might be cheaper to rehouse the 360 residents dwelling throughout them than to refurbish the properties.
However, the council has admitted that it gained’t be capable of build newer trendy properties on the websites in query rapidly.
Asked in regards to the difficulty at a scrutiny assembly on Thursday (October 12), the council’s chief housing officer, Gerard Tinsdale: “The ultimate aim is to replace those blocks with nice high quality homes. But it’s going to take a few years for us to do that. It’s going to take potentially a couple of years to empty the blocks and get them down before we start looking to replace them.”
Mr Tinsdale mentioned the council’s housing service is in a “really difficult financial situation”. He defined: “We can’t afford to spend the money to make those blocks decent. We’ve an obligation to the people living in there, to make sure they’re living in decent properties. That’s why we’re asking the executive board to consider the decision [to demolish them].”
There are additionally issues in regards to the wider impression on social housing within the meantime, with greater than 20,000 individuals within the metropolis ready for a property. Those being evacuated from the blocks shall be prioritised.
Liberal Democrat Coun Stewart Golton recommended that single individuals can be among the many worst affected, provided that many one-person council properties are in multi-storey blocks.
Mr Tinsdale added: “I think the simple answer would be it is going to put additional pressure on the service, should that report be agreed at executive board. It’s going to take out 360 units. So I don’t think there’s any other answer than ‘yes’, it will put pressure on the service.”