Last ditch bid to save one-bedroomed bungalows

Bungalows on the perimeter of the Closes Estate at Redcar have been boarded up but Ward Councillor Chris Abbott has called on Coast and Country Housing to reconsider the decision to demolish them, which was taken before the removal of the spare bedroom subsidy.

Chris Abbott raised the issue at a meeting on Redcar and Cleveland Council on 30th May and has since written to Iain Sim, Chief Executive of Coast and Country Housing

Cllr Abbott said:

“If Coast and Country Housing is finding it so difficult to assist people to downsize as a result of the removal of the spare bedroom subsidy, why are they not changing the property specification for the new homes planned on the Closes estate?

“Why not abandon the plan to demolish the popular one-bed bungalows on the perimeter of the Closes and re-let these popular properties?

“To me it does not make sense replacing them with two-bed flats when these were made more secure and were fully renovated during the first phase of modernisation on the estate, which cost £40,000 per property.”

There are still 28 bungalows left, of which around 20 are due to be demolished.