BW to sell occupied cottages

A ROW of 19 cottages by the Severn at Sharpness, owned by British Waterways, is to be auctioned off with sitting tenants.

This was first raised in October 2009, with British Waterways considering various options including off-loading them onto the local council or housing association, that came to nothing.

No guarantee

The tenants are not in a position to buy their homes, most being elderly, and are of course concerned that there is no guarantee a responsible landlord will take on the properties.

Though British Waterways maintains the existing tenancy agreements will be protected, only four of the tenants have such agreements, the remaining 12 on monthly tenancies will have no protection.

The reason given by British Waterways for selling the property, is that very old chestnut—it wants the money to 'invest in the waterways'!