Hit-squad targets 'Beirut' of Brum

Mar 21 2007

A HIT-squad has been sent in to clean up a 1,700-home estate that looks "more like Beirut than Birmingham".

The city's housing department finally regained control of Druids Heath this week from a tenants co-operative which has managed its affairs for the past seven years.

Cabinet housing chief Coun John Lines sent in the squad immediately after paying a fact-finding visit.

"I was absolutely shocked by what I found," he said.

"If I had been in charge of this, I would have been strung up."

In one tower block, he found electrical wires hanging from ceilings, bare and stained walls, and steel duckboards across the floor.

"It has been like this for three years - and tenants stopped complaining because nobody took any notice," he claimed.

Outside, fences were broken and green spaces were covered with litter.

"It looked more like Beirut than Birmingham," said Coun Lines."The estate is a monument to disrepair and neglect and the people who have been running it should hang their heads in shame."

But he added: "We are now going full steam ahead to help the tenants.

"This year we are going to start to bring homes up to a decent standard by fitting central heating and new double glazed windows."

The tenant management scheme was the largest in Europe - but only six tenants on the sprawling estate attended the final public meeting to wind it up.

The council moved to take back control over escalating rent arrears, anti-social behaviour and the 139 days it took the co-op to re-let empty homes.