Homeowners face demolition after renewal funding axed

The first section of a three-phase scheme on Sheffield’s Arbourthorne estate was completed between 2008 and 2011 and was paid for under the national Housing Market Renewal scheme.

But the second two parts of the scheme were halted after ministers said no more cash was available, leaving both tenants and people who had bought their homes uncertain over the future.

Yesterday, Coun Harry Harpham, the city’s housing spokesman, said £1.6m from the Government’s newly-announced Local Growth Fund would be used to flatten the remaining 246 properties and rehouse residents.

He said: “I know that the tenants and residents of the community have felt that they have been left in limbo since Government cut the funding halfway through the regeneration.

“We want to ensure the scheme is well managed and disruption is kept to a minimum for residents. There will be regular formal and informal consultation to keep people informed of progress.

“Every resident will be written to, informing them of the proposed phasing plan, but individual sub-phases will be dependent on the progress of preceding phases, so the schedule may have to change.”

Sheffield Council said “no major capital investment” had been carried out on the 193 council houses involved, with residents having “particular issues” with obsolete windows, doors and heating systems.

Housing chiefs also said the 53 private homeowners in the area had been reluctant to carry out major repairs to their properties, adding to the “run-down feel” of the estate.

Some of the Government’s £1.6m will be used to fund “relocation loans” for owner-occupiers in the area, which is known locally as Arbourthorne Fields.

The council said the maximum loan available would be £60,000, plus an additional sum of £500 to cover legal fees.

Funds from the council’s Housing Revenue Account and its capital spending programme will also be used, but details of the scale of that funding were not revealed yesterday.