Dozens of flats on a site where one block burnt down in minutes because of missing fire breaks are also to be knocked down and rebuilt.
People living in flats next to the fire-ravaged block at the top of Pankhurst Road were not allowed back in after it burnt down in September 2019.
The Guinness Partnership, which owns the site, said this was on the advice on East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, which said extra safety measures would be needed.
Now, more than four years on, the housing association says it has decided to demolish the blocks.
A spokesperson from The Guinness Partnership said: “We were and are planning to demolish the other buildings on the site, and we are planning to rebuild the homes.
“This option is more expensive than remediating them was likely to have been, but we believe this is the better option to assure residents as to the safety of the homes.
“All residents now have homes elsewhere. The original developer of the homes, Geoffrey Osborne, went into administration last week.”
The block of 12 flats which burnt down was demolished after plans for a new one were approved in October 2020.
In 2021, residents of all three blocks said they intended to sue Guinness Partnership, the builders Geoffrey Osborne Ltd and the architect which designed it.
A crowdfunder launched to cover legal costs exceeded its target of £7,000. The law firm representing them, Hodge Jones and Allen, had not responded to a request for an update at the time of publication.
The demolition of the other two blocks was approved by Brighton and Hove City Council in March this year.
The application says the work, which will be carried out by Wessex Demolition, will take six weeks.
This will start with the erection of timber hoarding and temporary fencing, with warning signs put up.
Vehicles, including HGVs, will enter the site via Pankhurst Avenue.
No plans have yet been submitted for new blocks to take their place.
Freshfield Road would benefit from a community space as part of a new plan, in my opinion. There’s a bit of a gap there, Albion’s new cafe notwithstanding.
Since the flats were demolished, there is now a huge communications mast right next to the wall at the top of the site, where the fire damaged block stood, which would only be a few feet from the new flats. Not safe to build so close to the mast, and residents would be reluctant to take flats so close to these masts.
That is your opinion, and is not actually based on fact. I assume you use and enjoy a mobile phone?
Makes you wonder who did the building inspection when they were built! They were not built to standards…. Something fishy going on. No doubt it’ll all be quietly forgotten…..
Also most of the telephone spectrum is former Television spectrum.. More damage from your microwave being used at home!
Well well well, I live in a block called the curve which is owned by the same housing association. The then housing officer switches our fire alarm system off stating that on advice from the London fire brigade, it wasn’t needed as we had a fire station (Preston park) so close to us. (Cost cutting, even though we pay for it via our service charge)
The same thing happened to these flats mentioned in the article. Fire alarm system removed.
Then after the fire the housing association forced the residents of the curve to have sprinkler system fitted citing the Grenfell tower block tragedy, even though our flats are only 3 floors high. They wanted us to have these horrible pipes fitted throughout our homes and had to take time off work (4 days loss of pay) to have these fitted. We fought against it but was threatened with court action. No competition for loss of earnings.
The sprinkler system is faulty and has been offline now for 3 months. The cowboys that fitted are based in Sheffield and can’t get the parts to fix it. We already had black mould in our homes that haven’t been addressed for the last 16 years which has been made worse now due to cold water sprinkler pipes in every room
Quick enough to collect their rent and service charge, absolutely rubbish at repairing the building, tackling antisocial behaviour and drug taking.
They couldn’t organise a prayer in a church.