WORK continues to rehouse residents of five large tower blocks that are set to be demolished to make way for a new estate of affordable housing.

Many of the residents of the five Incommunities buildings, Windsor Court, Bolingbroke Court, Stuart Court, Tudor Court and Hapsburg Court, have been moved to other properties, with work to rehouse the remaining residents currently underway.

The flats, between Manchester Road and Little Horton Lane, will then be demolished to make way for a development of 61 affordable houses.

Bradford Council recently approved a planning application for the demolition and subsequent housing development - which will change the skyline of Bradford.

Last May the housing provider announced it would be closing the buildings, saying they were struggling to fill all 315 flats and that they were then only 50 per cent occupied.

A planning application for the works at the site was submitted in January and has now been approved by Bradford Council.

Public to have say on Saltaire Incommunities homes plan

Incommunities cited the declining popularity of high rise buildings, and said the housing development that will replace the towers will be more “sustainable.”

The houses will be a mix of two, three and four bedroom homes, and there will be communal public areas, tree planting and 116 car parking spaces over the 1.28 hectare site.

The tower blocks are currently covered in scaffolding.

An Incommunities spokesperson said: “We have exciting plans to redevelop the site of five blocks into much needed family sized housing where previously the flats have been difficult to let.

“In August we received planning permission to build 61 houses for affordable rent on the site of our ‘court’ blocks – Bolingbroke, Hapsburg, Stuart, Tudor and Windsor.

“These blocks have experienced low demand issues, despite our strenuous efforts to re-let available homes.

“Following consultations of residents in the blocks the majority of those responding were in favour of demolitions and the option of re-housing.

“Many customers have since been successfully moved to other Incommunities properties or other housing providers and work is continuing to rehouse the remaining customers.

“Once this is complete we will take forward our redevelopment plans for the site.”

One of the conditions of the application is that each property on the new estate is provided with an electric vehicle charging point - a new policy by Bradford Council.

When the five blocks were built in the mid 1960s, they were the highest towers in the city.