Housing Association Bromford has confirmed plans to demolish the four ‘Views’ flats buildings in Filton, including the commercial units below Church View.
It is understood tenants will be relocated but residents who spoke to Filtonvoice said no information has been given about where they would be moved to or timeframes. A letter was sent to all tenants earlier this month.
There are 77 flats in Church View, Hill View, Cotswold View and Stoke View. The retail units include the Post Office, Specsavers, Downs Bakery, Gales Farm Meats and Bristol Blinds.
Nidhi Huxtable, whose family have run the Post Office and shop for 15 years, said: “We will be forced to close our business – a business which we have paid for with hard earned savings. Bromford have stated earlier this week that they will not be giving us a penny and we will be losing out once our lease has ended.
“So basically, as soon as it’s over, they will kick us out and start demolition work. The Post Office and all of us shops are the hub of the community. How can they believe it’s okay to just take away our family businesses?
“We have poured our hearts and souls into them for years.”
One resident said: “The rumours of the demolition have been going on for many months now, as many blocks have damp and mould . The Stoke View block has major leak issues to the point where one tenant had her bathroom roof fall in on her, and another tenant had her bathroom inspected just to find out the floorboards were damp and rotted under the lino.”
South Glos councillor Adam Monk said: “This project has been on the cards for years. I am meeting with Bromford to discuss this project over the coming days to discuss how tenants are affected and the businesses.”
Bromford said on its website: “Over the past few years we have had several complaints from customers about the condition of their homes in the four blocks of flat The Views. While addressing these complaints we have carried out several investigations into various aspects of the blocks.
“These have concluded that they suffer from poor energy efficiency which makes them expensive for customers to heat, as well as structural problems which have been responsible for condensation, damp and mould issues. The design of the flats, maisonettes and communal spaces, which cannot be easily altered, is also making flats increasingly difficult to let to new customers.
“Taking all of this into consideration we have decided to close the flats and find new homes for all existing customers to enable the demolition of the four blocks at The Views and the regeneration of the site.”
Bromford had not responded to Filtonvoice’s request for further comment.