£6m cost to buy up homes and then knock them down
HOUSES on Britain’s most polluted street outside London will be bought for 50% more than estate agents’ market prices – and then knocked down.
Families are set to move out of the 23 houses on the hillside terrace in Caerphilly after the Welsh Government agreed to spend £6m to “buy and demolish” the street.
The house prices have been hit by the choking pollution – so public money will pay more than market rates so that the families can afford to move out into new homes.
The hillside village street is hit by choking fumes due to passing lorries and cars climbing the steep hill.
Nitrogen dioxide levels breach world health rules – and have been recorded as the highest in the UK outside central London.
Some of the Victorian terraced houses are valued at around £80,000 but would cost families about £120,000 to buy a similar house within a few miles.
Labour-controlled Caerphilly County Borough Council has now agreed the plans to buy the homes from the families – and improve air quality targets.
Cllr Barbara Jones said: “I would love to see this successfully concluded. It has been a long process.”
The homes to be demolished are on Woodside Terrace, Crumlin, near Caerphilly.
More than £6m of taxpayers’ money is due to be spent to raze the homes – with the project due to be completed in December 2021.
Homeowner Deanna Hardwick, 38, says her children can only play in the back garden due to pollution on the street.
She said: “I’ve got three small children and they would love to go out on bikes and things.
“At the moment when we are in our front door that’s it. They can play in the back garden but they can’t go out the front.”
Deanna says her three-bedroom property has been valued at less than others in the area due to pollution.
She said: “I would hope that we would get the 50% more because our property in particular was valued between £30,000 and £40,000 less than any other three-bedroom terrace property in the area.
“I have mixed emotions about it. Obviously this is my home. My children were born here and we have our little life here.
“But on the other hand the road and situation is not going to get any better any time soon.”
The route is constantly busy with local traffic commuters travelling to
Newport and Cardiff and is a shortcut for lorry drivers avoiding M4 congestion.
The steepness of the hill in the narrow valley road creates a “perfect storm” of conditions to trap noxious exhaust fumes in the air.
The Welsh Government will only compensate residents for 30% above the market rate.
But the council cabinet agreed to set aside the remaining £268,000 to ensure families are compensated the full 50% above the going rates for their homes.
Approving the council plans, Welsh Government environment minster Lesley Griffiths said the demolition would remove the “street canyon effect and would also remove those residents most affected by poor air”.
She said: “Funding of over £6m has been awarded to meet the costs of this work including compensation for the acquisition of the dwellings, and work has been progressing at speed to deliver this.
“The Welsh Government is committed to improving air quality in Wales, but it is clear we face significant challenges in doing so.
“It is of the utmost importance we take action to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels to below legal limits in the soonest time possible to protect public health and the natural environment.”