PEOPLE who expected to sell their homes for clearance and redevelopment have become the latest victims of the credit crunch, according to a council which says it can no longer afford to proceed with the plan.

Nearly 200 homes in Chilton and Ferryhill’s Dean Bank area were expected to be bought up and pulled down this year during phase two of Durham County Council’s £56.5m housing master plan.

But a shortfall of £25m means residents who have waited years for offers on their homes must continue wating – and are unable to sell privately.

The uncertainty means that landlords and homeowners are reluctant to make even basic repairs to properties, many of which are already in a state of disrepair.

And as phase one work, in Ferryhill Station, nears completion, there are rows of terraces, demolished and derelict, that are unlikely to see redevelopment for years.

Glyn Hall, the council’s head of housing, said that despite the issues the council had not “closed the door” on the communities and that regeneration was still a priority.

Mr Hall said: “There will be some money and it’s how we use that money to get the best results. The decisions are made by members – all we can do is give a range of options.

“But it’s no good leaving sites with brickwork and rubble, we need to soil and grass them and make sure they are presentable, then we can look at how to use and manage these open spaces until the market recovers.”

Mr Hall was the director of neighbourhood services at the defunct Sedgefield Borough Council, that drew up the master plan, which was then adopted by Durham County Council when it became a unitary authority.

He said that £9m of funding, mostly from land sales in Newton Aycliffe, earmarked by Sedgefield, had been spent delivering phase one.

Mr Hall said: “In 2006, we drew up a master plan, we fully costed it and we knew we had funding to commence with phase one and we expected funding to come from land sales that we envisaged, plus at that time the housing market was very buoyant.

“In 2008, and the beginning of last year, we saw a massive fall in the housing economy and land vales were slashed by half.

“We are charged legally with getting the best value for land and selling land at low values won’t help anybody.

We are going to have to wait until the market improves.”