Plans have been submitted to replace ageing homes on a Bilston street with 15 new council properties, in the first proposed phase of a wider regeneration programme in Upper Bradley.
City of Wolverhampton Council says the pilot on Wilkinson Avenue would involve demolishing existing T-block properties and building a mixture of houses and maisonettes. The scheme requires planning permission; submission of an application does not mean the work has been approved.
If permission is granted, Morro Partnerships is due to deliver the homes on the council’s behalf. The proposed mix is seven two-bedroom and one three-bedroom maisonette-style homes, alongside four two-bedroom and three three-bedroom houses.
The council says feedback from affected tenants helped shape the mix. Each proposed home would have its own parking and a private garden. The authority also says the new properties would be easier to adapt to tenants’ needs than the existing buildings, whose construction limits the changes that can be made.
Why the homes are being replaced
The T-block homes were built between 1927 and 1939 using a construction method that differs from conventional brick housing. The council’s resident guidance describes external concrete panels and internal T-shaped concrete blocks.
The council says the properties have problems including failing structural elements, exposed and corroding steel and very poor thermal efficiency. It has concluded that they are no longer maintainable and proposes replacing them.
Its summer guidance to residents adds an important qualification: it says nothing in the surveys suggested the properties were unsafe. The guidance also says the homes are not automatically considered structurally unsound and that not every T-block may be affected in the same way. It describes recurring defects in homes inspected and says long-term repairs can be difficult and costly.
Options for affected households
The council says the project has been developed in consultation with the local community and that affected tenants will have opportunities to stay in the area and move into newly built homes. Its earlier resident guidance sets out how it intends to support households through the wider redevelopment.
For affected council tenants, the guidance says the authority will discuss individual circumstances and offer suitable alternative accommodation. It says tenants may move temporarily and choose to return to a newly built home, or move permanently elsewhere if they prefer.
The guidance states that council tenants who choose to return will keep the same type of tenancy. It also says that tenants already paying social rent would continue to do so in their new home. The council says the size and type of accommodation would take account of housing needs, including accessibility.
The position for private homeowners is different. The council’s guidance says it may need to buy privately owned homes attached to council-owned T-blocks to allow redevelopment to proceed. It says it prefers to reach voluntary agreements and would consider compulsory purchase only as a last resort. These are the council’s stated approach and options, not a claim that every household has agreed to move.
A pilot for the wider programme
Wilkinson Avenue was selected as a starting point for a phased approach. The council says several months of site investigation and preparatory work have already taken place. Its resident guidance says the pilot is intended to help it understand issues such as ground conditions, housing needs and costs before planning later phases.
Possible future work could involve properties in Baker Road, Chettle Road, Crane Road, Jordan Place, Martin Road, Pugh Road, Walter Road and Wells Road. Those are potential later phases, not developments approved by the current application.
The pilot forms part of a citywide council strategy to find replacement or refurbishment solutions for 4,100 ageing homes built using non-traditional methods. That figure covers the wider programme, not the number of homes proposed for Wilkinson Avenue or the number necessarily due to be demolished.
Elsewhere in the city, the council says new bungalows have already been handed over at the Lincoln Green estate, where older properties are being replaced in phases. It also reports retrofit work on hundreds of homes in Bradley and Ettingshall. The Bilston pilot will now have to go through the planning process before the proposed replacement homes can be built.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
