Plans to bulldoze 150 houses look likely to be approved

Middlesbrough Council will have compulsory purchase powers to buy the 110 private properties, off West Lane, which are to be knocked down at the end of the year.

Most of the houses are empty but any remaining residents will be forced to sell at market prices.

A council spokesman said he was confident that all of the owners would reach an agreement, so there was no need to enforce the order.

The roads with buildings earmarked for demolition are Cunningham Street, Tarran Street, West Lane and Whitehouse Street.

"If houses, and the environment they are in, are so unattractive that no one wants to live there, then it makes more sense to knock them down and create something that local people do want," said a council spokesman.

"The problem is most of these houses are empty and they attract vandals, people who cause fires and those who use them for illegal purposes."

West Middlesbrough has been allocated £50m over the next ten years from the Government's New Deal for Communities fund for schemes such as this, as well as for creating jobs and improving education and health opportunities.

A neighbourhood group of residents who live in or near the area will decide how the cash will be used to build something in the community to replace the houses.

The project to clear West Lane East ties in with a similar scheme to demolish 40 council houses in central Whinney Banks. It will involve knocking down properties on Harehills Road, Bruce Avenue, Forbes Avenue, East Crescent, Curran Avenue and Springfield Road.

The spokesman said: "These houses are mostly empty as well and this reflects the changing pattern for demand in housing in the area. Anyone who is living in these properties, however, will be offered a relocation package to move to another house.

"It would not be economical to refurbish them with council taxpayers' money so we are better off letting the people decide what they want on their doorsteps."