A whole street of houses built just 30 years ago is to be bulldozed and re-built at a cost of £3 million.

The 30 boarded-up empty houses in Hustler Street, Undercliffe, Bradford, have been targeted by vandals, with rooms set alight and windows smashed in.

Now the Government's regional housing board has allocated £2 million to Bradford Community Housing Trust and Manningham Housing Association, which will also plough in £1 million to build 23 family houses for rent instead.

The partners have received the £2 million from the Government's "transformational" pot for improvement schemes which are not purely bricks and mortar.

Anil Singh, chief executive of Manningham Housing Association, said: "This is the start of a great partnership with Bradford West City Community Housing Trust. Together we will create mixed and balanced communities where families support and respect each other.

"The road to hell was paved with good intentions when these properties were built. You could call it a tragic waste of funds pulling down properties of this age.

"People were playing numbers games by building flats but we are all about quality and good design.

"It hasn't worked and it is pointless to refurbish them. It would be throwing good money after bad.

"They will be replaced with three, four or five-bedroomed properties for families at reasonable rents with gardens.

"You get a faster-moving population with flats but families want to stay and we would like them to be local people. We want the community to be on board with us.

"We will be liaising with the police over the design of the development and looking at training and local jobs when they are built and we want to know what people want to see in this area.

"It has fantastic views and a lot for going for it and rents would be kept at affordable levels.

"We don't want to build houses which will get pulled down after 20 to 30 years. We want people still living in them in 100 years."

Ian Simpson, executive director of Bradford West City Housing Trust, part of Bradford Community Housing Trust, said: "The grant is an excellent regeneration boost to this area of Bradford.

"We want to turn this area round and both Bradford West City Community Housing Trust and Manningham Housing Association are very keen to work with residents and schools and build an integrated and sustainable community."

Jez Lester, director of asset management for the BCHT group, said: "We're not just knocking the old properties down and building more of the same. We have strategies to address the problems associated with these old properties to reduce anti-social behaviour and to increase community cohesion."

He said they were working with partners like Bradford Council's youth and parks services, the Regen 2000 Single Regeneration Budget board and Carlton Bolling College to redesign the area and produce an attractive neighbourhood in the £3 million scheme.

Mr Singh said it had been some years since the 30 properties were fully occupied but he believed there had been "some element" of people being driven out because of increasing crime and vandalism and anti-social behaviour at a nearby recreation area.

Only one property is still being lived in and housing officers will have meetings with the owner about their plans.

Mr Singh added the housing association would also look for areas where it could build homes for people to buy and would talk to the Regen 2000 SRB board about the use of the large run-down recreation area.

Demolition of the old properties will begin soon and Manningham Housing Association will submit a planning application after consultation with the community and other interested people.

The partners say building is expected to start in 2006.