Hundreds of empty flats in town where 10k need homes

ROW RUMBLES ON OVER IF IT IS BEST TO DEMOLISH OR REFURBISH TOWER BLOCKS

- THOMAS GEORGE & STEPHEN TOPPING

THEY have been standing proud since the 1960s, dominating the town's skyline against the dramatic hills which surround the town. But for almost eight years, uncertainty has hung over the Seven Sisters of Rochdale.

It was November 2016 when Manchester Evening the News first reported that the landmark tower blocks of the College Bank estate were facing an uncertain future. Seven months later, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) unveiled plans to knock down four of the seven towers, to make way for up to 120 new homes.

Campaigners and councillors spent years challenging the project - while thousands were spent by RBH paying people to leave. But in a new era for RBH, ushered in with the landlord facing mounting pressure following the death of toddler Awaab Ishak, priorities for the College Bank estate switched.

The M.E.N revealed last June that the tower blocks could be saved from the bulldozer, before RBH announced it was working with Legal and General on a plan to refurbish the buildings, and bring all 700 apartments into use.

Yet 12 months on, the tenants who remain on College Bank are still stuck in limbo, surrounded by hundreds of empty homes.

It comes as the town hall declared a housing emergency last October. At the time, almost 10,000 households were on the waiting list for social housing across the Rochdale borough. It's understood around 400 flats at Seven Sisters are currently unoccupied.