New homes to replace old Wolverhampton housing offices plagued by break-ins and fly-tipping

Wolverhampton Council has approved its own planning application to demolish the old Parkfield housing office in Rough Hills Road to make way for six three-bed affordable homes.

The former district offices, which were built in the 1990s, were deemed ‘surplus to requirements’ by the council in 2022 having been empty for three years after becoming a hotspot for “vandalism, attempted break-ins, damage to roof tiles and fly-tipping".

Councillors agreed to get rid of the building in 2022 after little interest was shown in moving other council services into the building.

Council reports from 2022 show that planning officers had recommended the site be used for two-storey apartment blocks but a planning application for three-bed homes was submitted instead.

Wolverhampton Homes, which manages the city’s social housing, moved some of its repair workers into the building in 2002 where they stayed until 2019 when they relocated to nearby Tarmac Road.

A report outlining the council’s decision said: “The proposed development of this site is appropriate in principle and accords with the development plan.

“The proposals would be a sizeable investment and would create new good quality homes at this location. The proposals appear in scale and character with this setting. There would be no adverse impact on visual amenity.

“On balance, the massing and position of the proposals would be appropriate and there would be no undue adverse impact on neighbour amenity or privacy.”

More than 80 homes on the Rough Hills Estate are to be ‘retrofitted’ by the council to boost energy efficiency including new wall insulation, double glazing, new doors, more loft insulation and improved ventilation and re-roofing.

Last year, the Government awarded just over £5m to Wolverhampton Council to help retrofit more social housing.