Down with derelict council housing.

09 Nov, 2005

Oxford city council has agreed to the demolition of 153 condemned Orlit houses on the Rose Hill Estate. The prefabricated Orlit houses are under 60 years old, but will be considered unfit for habitation in a few years time. The Orlit house type was designated as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984, and the cost to the Oxford council of improving them would have been around 2.7 million. The houses on the Rose Hill Estate will be replaced by 254 new homes, 113 designated as private houses and 141 as affordable housing. Work on the redevelopment will start by September 2006. The council decision comes after years of campaigning by the Oxford Citizens Housing Association and the replacement of two Orlit buildings on the Estate with eco-homes in 2003.