Uncertainty Over Future Leaves Couple in Limbo

Summary

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BRIAN and Eileen Hughes say they are too old to get a mortgage and must pay thousands of pounds a year in rent if their home is bulldozed. Their Cobridge home of 32 years was included in the clearance area as part of plans to build hundreds of houses on the former Churchill China site.

But they are still waiting to hear whether an offer will be made to buy their home if the work goes ahead. If their home is bought, they say they will have to pay rent because they are too old to get a mortgage. Only one occupied house remains parallel to their Crane Street home, in Douglas Street, and nearly half of the properties on their street have already been bought by Renew and boarded up. Latest figures show Renew has spent Pounds 243,877 buying five properties on Crane Street and a further Pounds 796,040 buying 14 properties on nearby Douglas Street. Milkman Brian, below, said Great Places Housing Group, working with Renew, had promised them a property on a new 21-home estate behind the factory site where Furnival Street and surrounding homes currently stand. He said work was meant to start in March but properties in Furnival Street and Blackwell's Row were already occupied. The 58-year-old added: "We've not had a mortgage for 20 years and if we moved to this new site, to buy it would put us in debt. We will have to start paying rent because we'll be too old to take a mortgage out. It's very unfair.

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Uncertainty Over Future Leaves Couple in Limbo

"I'm not going to pay to have thi...

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