Green light for homes on condemned tower block site

Proposals to knock the landmark tower blocks down were approved in 2019

Plans for a multimillion-pound housing development on the site of two condemned tower blocks have been approved.

The project will see 566 new homes replace 1960s blocks Horatia House and Leamington House in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Weaknesses in the concrete structure of the 18-storey buildings were discovered when external cladding was removed, following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Portsmouth City Council said they would be demolished as work to strengthen them was not cost effective.

Artist's images show how the area will look before and after the development

All 800 residents were moved out of the tower blocks by spring 2019, following the safety concerns.

Costing £120m, the new plans will include 319 affordable homes.

Darren Sanders, the authority's member for housing and tackling homelessness, said these properties would make a "significant dent" in the council house waiting list.

The list currently has about 1,500 people on it.

"We want to cut our homelessness - we want to make sure people are in the homes they need and that's one of the things we can do here," he said.

The building will contain 247 build-to-rent flats and, at 32-storeys tall, it will be one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Mr Sanders said: "It will be safe - but we're very keen to have in such an iconic building in such a great part of Portsmouth."

Residents will only have access to about 100 parking spaces - a move that intends to encourage people into using sustainable transport instead.

Proposals show shops, businesses, play space and public gardens will also be built on the site.