Elderly people dismayed by news

A COMMUNITY of elderly people has been left "devastated" after being told they must leave their homes in the next 18 months.

- by DAVID HUMPHREYS

Around 120 homes at Ash Grange and Oak Grange in Knotty Ash will have to be vacated after Housing 21 told residents the 60-year-old 10-storey tower blocks were no longer viable for extended use.

Residents have told the ECHO how they found friends in tears after being told they would have to leave their homes by 2027.

It is expected the blocks will be knocked down and the land used to build a new facility. A structural survey concluded that while the buildings were safe for occupation, the concrete frames could deteriorate within the next five to 10 years.

One resident said the thought of having to leave their homes had "knocked the stuffing out of everyone." The two tower blocks off Brookside Avenue were originally built as local authority housing in the 1960s.

The buildings comprise a total of 122 retirement living apartments. It is understood that the cost, disruption and uncertainty associated with remedial works, which could take up to two years meant refurbishment was not seen as a viable long-term option for Housing 21, a non-for-profit provider of extra care and retirement living.