NEARLY 100 homes in Petersfield could be pulled down and replaced by a modern housing estate with a new layout, it has been revealed this week.

The Drum Housing Association (DHA) has written to all residents in Grange Road, Borough Grove and Highfield Road who live in pre-cast reinforced concrete houses, known locally as Reema homes.

The housing association has outlined options for the future of the houses and asked all residents to take part in detailed consultations over the future of the homes.

Drum Housing has identified three options for the houses, 17 of which are privately owned and 77 owned by Drum.

The most ambitious is to demolish all the existing Reema homes and replace them with new up-to-date properties with new gardens, roadway and public open space, which would also offer a wider choice of housing types to residents.

Another option is to refurbish the existing houses by repairing the pre-cast concrete construction. This would include updating the heating, kitchens and windows. Under this option the gardens, public open spaces and roads would remain untouched.

A third option is to refurbish some houses, demolish others and rebuild. This would mean keeping the existing layout of the roads.

Steve Rice, interim director of operations for DHA, told The Herald: ÒThese PRC houses were built after the second world war, under the jurisdiction of Petersfield Urban District Council, and were made using off-site manufactured panels which were then put together on site. This was a popular form of construction at the time when demand for quickly-constructed housing was extremely high.Ó

While these houses were an ideal solution at the time, they were only expected to have a 30-year life span,Ó said Mr Rice.

The houses, he said, had lasted well beyond their life expectancy and in addition, due to the way they had been built, their thermal performance was poor, which made heating the homes a difficult and costly task.

ÒTogether with the residents living in the PRC homes, Drum Housing Association must decide what is to be done with these properties,Ó said Mr Rice.

ÒWe have written to all tenants of these Reema properties to let them know that we will be working with them, to listen to their views and their needs,Ó he explained.

ÒThere are several options for these properties but we cannot even begin to make any decisions without consulting closely with those who are most greatly affected.Ó

On Friday residents received the first of a series of newsletters which are being produced especially for the residents in the Reema homes. It explained the options for the houses and set out how the consultation process would be conducted.

They were told: ÒBy following a consultation programme we hope to give everyone a number of opportunities to discuss the options and to express their views. We then wish to incorporate residentsÕ ideas into the proposals.Ó

The first step is to appoint a community liaison co-ordinator who will be DrumÕs links with the residents.

Maria Garside, a spokesman for Drum Housing, told The Herald: ÒThe new officer will work solely with residents of the Reema homes. The officer will be the point of contact who will support the residents and help to get them involved in the process.Ó

The officer will visit all the residents in their homes by December and a newsletter will then be produced at Christmas which will include feedback from the home visits. There will be workshops for residents during the early part of next year and Drum hopes that details can be agreed by the spring of 2005.

Laurence Fowler, assistant chief executive for Drum, said: ÒThe cost of the project will depend heavily on the final design chosen and the number of properties involved. Both will be subject to lengthy and detailed consultation with tenants, other residents and the key stakeholders and partners, especially the district council. Until we know the potential cost it will not be easy to say how it will be funded.

ÒHaving said that, we gave a commitment at transfer to deal with these properties and we will honour that commitment, as we have honoured every other promise made to tenants when Drum was established.Ó

Elizabeth Cartwright, leader of the district council, said: ÒThis is the start of a very big project for Drum which hopefully will lead to more and improved housing for those in need in Petersfield.Ó