Deputy prime minister John Prescott’s demolition plans in pathfinder areas have been further criticised after a television programme showed houses could be restored for little more than it cost to knock it down. An uninhabited house in Toxteth was renovated by a team of experts for Tonight with Trevor McDonald, to be shown tonight. It cost £24,000 compared to the £18,000 that demolition would have cost and the £100,000 that Prescott’s regeneration scheme would have incurred to replace it with a new home. The house was in a poor state, riddled with damp, with no bathroom or central heating and cracked ceilings. But a structural survey showed the roof and walls were fine. New housing minister Yvette Cooper said refurbishment was being considered for some properties but that other factors needed to be considered. “If you have an area where there are terrace houses with no gardens there’s a limit to the number of families with kids who will want to live there. You have to look at mixes of housing as well as the quality of the property.” (Telegraph)