Lovells Flats U-turn Confirmed!

£2.3m to turn Leeds flats into 'decent homes'

Council chiefs in Leeds have been handed £2.3m to refurbish three inner city tower blocks they had earmarked for sale.

Date: 07 April 2008
By David Marsh
Council chiefs in Leeds have been handed £2.3m to refurbish three inner city tower blocks they had earmarked for sale.

The Government money will be used to improve the Lovell Park multi-storey flats on the Little London estate.

In 2005 when the council unveiled its plans for a £95m Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme to regenerate Little London, it proposed that the Lovell Park Heights, Grange and Towers blocks be sold to a developer who would renovate them for sale or rent.

The suggested sale was strongly opposed by the Little London Tenants and Residents Association, which did not want the tenants of the 297 flats to lose their homes.

Having gained Government approval for the £95m regeneration scheme, the council put the sale proposals on hold to consider other options for the three blocks.

Councillors agreed to pursue other sources of cash and has now been awarded the £2.3m from the Government's Decent Homes funding to improve the blocks.

Coun Les Carter, executive councillor for housing, was delighted the council had been able to win the extra money.

He said: "Our success in securing the £95m comprehensive regeneration project will be further boosted by this additional funding which will bring the Lovell Park multi-storey tower blocks up to decent standard.

"I am pleased that we have been able to take on board the residents' views following the consultation, and I am sure that the people of Little London will notice very real improvements to their neighbourhood when work gets under way."

Decent Homes is a government target that all council and housing associations must achieve by 2010. A Decent Home is defined as one that is warm, weatherproof and has reasonably modern facilities.

The £95m comprehensive regeneration for Little London has a number of key targets including construction of 125 new council homes, a range of new private sector homes and up to 40 per cent of new homes to fall into the "affordable" range.