Green light given to demolish damp social housing flats

PLANS for the redevelopment of an affordable housing estate which would see homes demolished and rebuilt have been given the goahead.

- DANIEL CLARK

Plymouth City Council planners have approved LiveWest’s scheme which will see the existing affordable housing estate at Healy Place at Morice Town demolished, with 33 affordable dwellings constructed in its place – a reduction of nine units from what is currently provided.

There are currently two four-storey buildings occupying the site and these are thought to have been constructed in the 1950s for naval family quarters and were acquired by Devon and Cornwall Housing Association (DCHA) from the MOD in the early 1990s. A total of 42 maisonettes are provided across the two buildings and the total number of units are split equally between two and three-bed properties.

But the construction and condition of the existing buildings have been deemed substandard and unsuitable for upgrade. As a result it was proposed to demolish the site which sits within the established residential neighbourhood of Morice Town, and under a delegated decision, the scheme has been approved by Plymouth City Council.