HOMES built in the seventies will be demolished to make way for comfortable modern flats in a scheme costing nearly £5m.
Residents of Stepney Court, Aspley, will pack up their belongings to be temporarily rehoused in the next six months.
Twenty eight people will be found new homes at the start of the two-year project just approved by the executive board at Nottingham City Council.
Designs and planning permission are yet to be drawn up but the board has already given the project its stamp of approval.
The existing homes provide independent living for the over 55s and disabled tenants under 55.
The plan extends to knock down Aspley Housing Office and Strelley Library at the same site.
As well as the new homes, a joint service centre will be built to include housing and library services.
Stepney Court tenants have already been consulted on the proposals and will be closely involved in the re-design of the complex.
They will be re-located temporarily while the work is carried out.
It is expected they will have moved out by the end of 2014 with demolition and building work starting in 2015.
Those who want to move back to Stepney Court, which is managed and maintained by Nottingham City Homes, can return in 2016.
The investment is part of the multi-million Building a Better Nottingham programme to build more than 400 new council homes across the city.
Aspley resident Margaret McLoughlin, who has lived in the area for 56 years, said she was worried for the older people who lived at Stepney Court.
"It's very stressful moving house for a young people, let alone an older person."
NCH Chief Executive Nick Murphy said: "The plans for the area give us the opportunity to replace the old flats at Stepney Court with new, better, modern homes for older people while at the same time helping to regenerate this area of the city.
"We know this could be an unsettling time for the people at Stepney Court. So we have been busy talking with each resident about the plans and we have promised to keep them involved in the whole process.
"It also gives us the opportunity to create a new joint service centre with colleagues from the City Council as the flats at Stepney Court and the adjoining Aspley housing office and Strelley library are part of the one building."
Councillor Alex Ball, executive assistant with responsibility for housing at Nottingham City Council said: "Both the new joint service centre and improved homes at Stepney Court have the potential to make a real difference to local residents and the wider community.
"We are working to transform Nottingham's neighbourhoods, removing the properties that are no longer fit for purpose and replacing them with new, sustainable, energy efficient properties that will help both existing and new residents to feel safe and secure in their community by creating neighbourhoods where people want to live and work."
What do you think of the plan? Comment on our website at www.nottinghampost.com
