A rundown estate in Woolwich is set to be demolished five years after plans emerged.

Top councillors on Greenwich’s cabinet are poised to instruct development company Lovell to bulldoze the Morris Walk Estate at a meeting next week.

In 2013, Lovell was tasked with redeveloping three rundown Woolwich housing estates in a £269m deal.

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The project will see 1,064 homes in the Connaught, Morris Walk and Maryon Road and Grove estates demolished and replaced with 1,500 new properties.

In 2015, residents in Morris Walk complained they had been “forgotten” and left to deal with drug dealing, uncollected rubbish and leaks.

Four years later, Greenwich Council’s cabinet is set to approve an improved agreement for leaseholders for the compulsory purchase of their homes as the demolition of the area moves forward.

According to cabinet papers: “Cabinet is requested to agree that the council instructs Lovell to commence demolition of the Morris Walk estate, ahead of obtaining full planning permission and other project conditions being met.

“Specifically, the subject matter to which this report relates will enable the development to commence, increasing the Royal Greenwich’s supply of affordable housing, thereby supporting the alleviation of housing need and improving the economic, health and well-being outcomes for residents.”

There are more than 20 leaseholders remaining on the estate, but the council hopes an improved offer will allow the scheme to progress quickly.

Officers said the new offer would help “to enable the scheme to progress without further delay and provide leaseholders with reassurance and a positive outcome in accordance with the council’s more enhanced offer.”

Greenwich is in the grips of a housing crisis, with the number of homeless households nearly doubling in the last year.

The plans will be debated at a meeting on July 10.