'Evacuees' see homes resold for big profits

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They are the victims of a controversial policy to bulldoze thousands of Coronation Street-style properties in the name of 'regeneration'.

The Government is pumping billions into the scheme in the name of modernisation, but the houses are mostly perfectly sound. Developers make a fortune by improving the homes while their former owners are left with nothing.

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Terraced homes: sold for demolition and then resold at a profit

Walter Gowenlock, 76, and his wife Pat, 74, live in Salford, whose MP Hazel Blears is now in charge of the policy as Communities Secretary.

They sold their 1920s two-up two-down to Salford Council for only £10,000 in 2004 after they were the last family left in Co-operative Street. They were moved to a smaller nearby house valued at £35,000 under an agreement that they would pay back the difference if they sell it - or die - within ten years.

The council then abandoned the demolition plan, spent thousands renovating the property, and it is now worth around £80,000. "We worked all our lives for that house, but now we're basically £25,000 in debt," said Mr Gowenlock, a retired merchant seaman.

Around the corner, Ken and Sheila Dummett were offered only £8,000, less than remained outstanding on their mortgage, to move out. Their home was then literally turned upside-down as part of a radical development under which traditional terrace houses have bedrooms on the ground floor and living space upstairs.

The properties are now changing hands for £130,000 or more. "We feel cheated," said 49-year-old Mrs Dummett at their new home in Bolton.