Work to demolish non-traditional homes on a South Tyneside estate is to get underway next week.

Keepmoat, working in partnership with South Tyneside Homes, has been appointed to demolish 43 houses over a phased programme over the coming months.

The first of three phases will see 18 properties and all the garages behind Eskdale Drive in Jarrow demolished.

The homes had been due to be refurbished last year as part of the Decent Homes work but investigations revealed the condition of the properties to be far worse than first anticipated. The Council’s Cabinet decided last year to demolish the 43 prefabricated houses on Eskdale Drive, Coniston Drive and Grasmere Avenue on the Lakes Estate and rebuild.

South Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Homes have been working with the affected tenants to find alternative accommodation and are also working with seven residents who bought their homes to buy back those properties.

Councillor Allan West, Lead Member for Housing and Transport, said: “These houses were built at the end of the Second World War and were only expected to last 20 years.

“We know that most people enjoy living on this estate which is why we have offered affected residents the opportunity to return to the new properties which will be built on the site.”

The first phase of the demolition work is expected to take around six weeks.