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Landlord to demolish third of tower blocks as demand weakens

A North of England housing association is to demolish around a third of its tower blocks partly due to a drop in demand for high-rise living.

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Picture: Getty
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Incommunities is in process of demolishing 11 of its 30 tower blocks as demand for high-rise living weakens #ukhousing

Incommunities, which manages around 22,000 homes across West Yorkshire, is in the process of decommissioning 11 of its 30 blocks as it responds to a change in demand for more family-orientated housing in the region.

Greg Robinson, assistant chief executive – resources of Incommunities, told Inside Housing the decision was not related to the Grenfell Tower tragedy but was down to “a range of long-term maintenance issues” at the buildings and a “lack of demand”.

None of the blocks are clad with aluminium composite material cladding, the type used on Grenfell Tower, according to Mr Robinson. “All of them are clad with traditional render-surface Rockwool,” he said.

He added: “We decided they [the blocks] weren’t fit for purpose anymore and there just isn’t a high demand for high-rise living.

“When we looked at the long-term running costs against the long-term projected rent returns, we felt they weren’t really viable.”

In February, the group submitted plans to pull down three of its high-rise blocks in Bingley.


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Among the other blocks Incommunities is demolishing are three in Bradford: Manchester Road, Crosley Wood and Bolton Woods.

It comes as the association published a half-year update this week, which revealed a 41% jump in surplus to £7.2m. Its bottom line was boosted by a refinancing earlier in the year which “significantly” reduced the amount of interest on its loans.

Turnover edged up to £49.1m, while its debt level remained flat at £306m.

The group, which received an A+ credit rating from Standard & Poor’s in March, did not detail rent voids, but chief executive Geraldine Howley said in its financial statement that the housing association had seen a “significant reduction in our voids turnaround times and a resultant reduction in voids rent losses”.

On development, Incommunities delivered 76 new properties over six schemes in the half-year period. Of these, 41 were deemed affordable housing, 19 were Rent to Buy, 12 for shared ownership and four for market sale. Around 200 units are currently in development.

Looking ahead, the association said the outlook remained “positive”, but added: “We anticipate that there will be some pressure going forward on wage increases, which form a significant element of our operating expenditure, but this should be manageable.”

Incommunities was formed as Bradford Community Housing Trust following a stock transfer from Bradford Council in 2003.

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