A SOMERSET council is paying more than £250,000 for a house in Taunton – just so it can knock it down.

Somerset West and Taunton Council has agreed to buy a four-bedroom terraced house on Dover Road, within the Priorswood area of the county town.

The property, a former council house, will be demolished as part of the council’s North Taunton Woolaway regeneration scheme, which will see dozens of post-war homes replaced by more suitable accommodation.

The council has said the house could be rented out temporarily, or used to house a family uprooted by the earlier phases of the scheme.

Woolaway properties resemble other homes in appearance but are constructed from concrete frames and panels, rather than more traditional materials.

The government designated such homes as defective under the Housing Defects Act 1984, after research found that the homes could “suffer deterioration”.

In one of its last actions before being dissolved, Taunton Deane Borough Council voted in late-March to approve an ambitious scheme to demolish the substandard properties and replace them with 226 new homes.

Around £45M could be spent on the scheme over a period of ten years, which is being divided into five distinct phases.

Phase one will begin in early-2020, and involves the construction of a community centre and 47 new homes across Bodmin Road, Cambridge Terrace, Dorchester Road, Rochester Road and Wells Close, at a cost of around £7.2M.

Properties on Dover Road – including the four-bedroom house the council has now purchased – will be replaced during the third phase of the scheme, the dates for which have not yet been confirmed.

Unlike many Woolaway properties, the house in question has been “bricked up” – meaning it has had red bricks build on top of the concrete exterior to change its appearance.

The current owners of the property will be buying a house on Laxton Road on the eastern side of the town.

Councillor Francesca Smith, portfolio holder for housing, confirmed: “The property on Dover Road will be demolished as part of the regeneration scheme.

“However, in the meantime it may become a decant property or temporary let.”

The council has not divulged the precise amount it paid for the property, citing commercial sensitivity.

However, it has confirmed it was higher than £250,000 – meaning the decision had to be signed off by the portfolio holder, rather than being taken solely by an officer.

Ms Smith said this decision had to be taken at short notice to prevent extra costs from being incurred.

She said: “If this was not to be implemented by November 4, the housing chain is likely to break down.

“We would then be left paying abortive purchase fees ,and may then have to buy the property in Dover Road via a compulsory purchase order.”