Devon homes to be razed to the ground

Mid Devon District Council is to demolish 22 of its social houses as part of redevelopment plans. Councillors heard that the homes – a small proportion of the roughly 3,000 it oversees – were set to be knocked down in the coming weeks and replaced with new houses.

They are in three locations in Tiverton’s Lowman area, with four properties demolished in two streets and one in another, while nine homes will be knocked down in a street in Bampton and a street in Cheriton Fitzpaine will see four flattened.

The exact streets have not been identified publicly by the council to help prevent the properties being targeted by squatters.

Members of the council’s scrutiny committee heard that the authority always tries to take advantage of its social houses being empty.

This usually means the authority carrying out repairs or improvements, but can also mean that the houses are sold or knocked down in a bid to help improve the overall quality of the council’s housing stock.

Simon Newcombe, the council’s head of housing and health, said it could often be beneficial to demolish properties, especially those on larger plots, as it could mean more homes being rebuilt in their place.

“Also, at the moment, Homes England is contributing to the cost of replacing those that we are demolishing and adding in their place,” he said.

“So if we knock one down and put four there, we get funding for those four, and that was very much not the case until recently.

“But the government has changed and Homes England has recognised that redeveloping and regenerating social housing provides a benefit.”

Mr Newcombe said at present this funding support is expected to last around another year.

“It would be disappointing if Homes England ceased the additional support in 12 months’ time as we may still have some projects that we want to work on,” he said.

“If that did happen, then we would have to look at alternative strategies for spending our money, such as by knocking down a garage and replacing it with a property.”

Mr Newcome said beyond the 22 set for demolition, another six are empty and included sites where more homes were going to be built in the garden of an existing property, or will be sold.

The council also has 50 more properties which are empty – notionally for the short-term – where upgrade works are being carried out, such as asbestos removal, remodelling work, or the likes or replastering.

Mr Newcombe said some properties can end up being void for longer periods than expected, including due to residents being put into care or during the probate process where a tenant has died.

He said such situations often cause delays outside the council’s control, meaning the homes could not always be returned to service as quickly as envisaged.