The start yesterday of demolition of the derelict eyesore which became known as Bradford’s Death Row is something that was long overdue.

The dilapidated, boarded-up flats in the Goitside area have long been seen as a shameful monument to dereliction less than a minute from the heart of the city, and no one is likely to lament their demise.

The project will see the derelict properties knocked down and then rebuilt as affordable family housing for both rent and sale.

It is part of a wider programme of work designed to take disused properties and bring them back into use as housing for families in particular.

Welcome as it is, though, it is still only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the housing demand Bradford Council says exists.

The conversion of these properties in the Chain Street area shows that disused and derelict buildings can potentially be brought back into use as housing.

There are still far too many schemes in the pipeline for building on greenfield sites outside the city centre.

The Telegraph & Argus launched its Save Our Green Spaces campaign last year in a bid to highlight these brownfield sites rotting away in Bradford and in towns around the district.

This scheme is the perfect example of how these can be brought back into use.

In this case, Bradford Council has worked very closely with Incommunities to secure the funding.

But surely more can be done to come up with incentives for private developers to follow in this example, and use the brownfield sites that are ripe for re-development instead of building on our green spaces?