Hebburn: Decision day for demolition of Durham Court tower block and move to rehouse elderly tenants

Durham Court, which is for the over 55s, dates back to 1974 and is the last remaining residential high-rise building in Hebburn, with a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats.

The council has previously stated that because of its non-traditional construction, the building is now “beyond its original intended lifespan.”

The 18-storey block houses 111 flats, of which 70 are currently occupied, with “96 occupants residing in the building” and the “majority” being “over the age of 65”, council documents state.

Following surveys which found the building requires significant investment and modernisation, the council has been looking at three options for its future, including direct investment, demolition, or sale or transfer to another housing provider.

Back in March, 2025, senior council officers indicated that the demolition option for Durham Court was the “cheapest” out of the three proposed and stressed affected residents would be supported with their wishes for future suitable alternative accommodation.

This could include potential moves to new or existing extra care facilities in some cases, subject to individual care assessments, as well as each resident being eligible to receive a home loss payment of around £8,100 per property, a figure set nationally, and support with the cost of removals.

It was always planned that a decision on Durham Court would be taken in May, 2025, and now a date has been set next week for senior Labour councillors to discuss the plans.

South Tyneside Council’s ruling cabinet will be recommended to agree to the demolition of the building and for tenants to be moved into suitable alternative accommodation.

Councillor Jane Carter, deputy council leader and recently appointed lead member for housing and community safety, said the council will support residents throughout the process if demolition is agreed.

“Durham Court is home to 96 older people, so this is by no means a conclusion we have reached lightly,” Cllr Carter said.

“We’ve carried out detailed analysis of the various options. The building would require £12 million of investment to modernise and keep it at a decent standard – works which would mean significant disruption to the tenants without any guarantees about the long-term sustainability of the block.

“Again, selling or transferring the building to another social landlord would offer tenants no extra protection in terms of its long-term viability.

“If cabinet agrees to the recommendation to demolish Durham Court, we recognise that this would be a huge upheaval to the tenants, and we are here to support them throughout the process.

“They will be given priority for a new home and an assessment will be carried out to establish their individual needs, including any necessary adaptations to their new property.”

The demolition option for Durham Court is estimated to cost the council £6.6 million, made up of the demolition costs (£2.1 million), discounted rental loss over 30 years, ‘home loss payments’ to tenants, the relocation of CCTV and more.

A cabinet report described demolition as the “most economically advantageous option”, compared to the two other options proposed, and noted direct investment into the building would include £2.5 million to replace ‘soil stacks’ waste water infrastructure and £9.5 million of additional work around roof replacement, rewiring, fire alarms, lighting and more.

It was argued that the costs of repairing Durham Court would impact budgets for other housing improvement works across the borough, resulting in “3,600 fewer heating systems or 2,600 homes not receiving new windows”.

It was noted that the direct investment option at Durham Court “equates to an investment per property of over £100,000, which represents an extremely high refurbishment cost per unit”.

The demolition option was also preferred over the option to sell the building to another registered housing provider, such as a housing association, with cabinet documents confirming the move would cost £9.5 million, as well as a ballot of tenants under law.

It was noted that it was “extremely unlikely that a registered provider would be interested in such a proposal, especially given initial investment and ongoing costs required to operate and maintain such a building”.

Although demolition is being recommended, the cabinet report states there is a “reputational risk” to the council around its Net Zero agenda because of impacts on the recently completed Hebburn Energy Centre, which provides heat to Durham Court.

It was noted that the scheme was “intended to deliver carbon savings of 320 tonnes per year” and that “Durham Court represents approximately 62 per cent (198 tonnes) of that overall carbon saving”, with “significant investment made in the building (including intrusive works to the individual flats)”.

Cabinet papers said the Hebburn Energy Centre project cost the council £11.9 million (of which £4.8 million was received from the European Regional Development Fund – ERDF”.

It was confirmed that there will be “no clawback of funds” from the ERDF “in the event of Durham Court being demolished”, and that the energy scheme will be connected to a children’s home to “mitigate some of the carbon savings that have been lost”, saving around three tonnes.

However, cabinet documents confirmed the energy scheme could not connect to a new Karbon Homes extra care development in the area, “mainly due to timescales relating to both design and build of the facility”.

While mitigated in part by the proposed children’s home connection to the energy scheme, it was noted that in the event of the demolition of Durham Court, there would be “an annual income loss to the energy centre” of around £150,000 per annum.

The cabinet report adds: “Under the demolition option, the energy centre would not be operating to the capacity in which it was designed / built.

“Options are continually being considered as to how the scheme could be expanded to take in additional buildings, however this is dependent upon external funding.”

Letters were delivered to affected Durham Court tenants earlier this year (2025) and they were invited to attend a number of drop-in sessions where they could ask questions or raise concerns.

The events were well attended, and the council said a follow-up letter was sent addressing some questions tenants had raised at the meetings.

If demolition is approved next week, cabinet confirmed that no timescales have been set, and that demolition would not begin until all residents were found a suitable alternative home.

The council added rehousing residents and the demolition process was likely to take around 3-4 years to complete.

Cllr Carter added: “Of course we recognise that this will be unsettling and that some of the tenants do not want to be moving at this stage in life, but we will do all we can to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

“Residents will be supported and kept informed every step of the way, they all have contact details of an officer who will answer questions and reassure them.”

South Tyneside Council’s ruling cabinet will meet to discuss Durham Court at a meeting on Wednesday, May 21, at South Shields Town Hall.

The cabinet meeting is scheduled to start at 4pm and will be open to the public.