Cheap homes staff told to leave

Council staff moved into the Greyhound Opening complex

Local authority staff who moved into low-rent accommodation built for the elderly, prompting an council inquiry, have been given notice to leave.

The Norwich City Council sheltered housing development in Greyhound Opening and Goldsmith Street was earmarked for demolition last year.

But after the elderly residents moved out council staff moved in.

Now the council staff have been given notice to vacate the properties by 31 January ahead of demolition.

Earlier this week Kristine Reeves, Norwich City Council head of neighbourhood and strategic housing services, was suspended on full pay.

Review continues

The move came as a council inquiry was started to look into why staff, including Ms Reeves, were able to rent the low-cost sheltered housing.

A council spokesman said: "In a statement earlier this week, we said we would be reviewing the continued use of accommodation at Greyhound Opening/Goldsmith Street.

"We have now done that and decided to give notice to all staff to vacate the properties by the end of January, given there are no longer any elderly tenants in the sheltered accommodation."

The spokesman said that the "internal inquiry is continuing into how a decision was taken to let these properties to staff and how they were allocated".