Horatia House tower block in Somers Town, Portsmouth has almost been taken down

Darren Barnett captured this video of the lower floors of the condemned tower block being knocked down. He took them from his flat’s balcony looking over Park Street.

Both Horatia House and nearby Leamington House were condemned in the wake of the Grenfell fire in London.

The blocks’ cladding was potentially dangerous and had to be removed, but after work started to replace it in 2018, worse was found – the buildings' concrete was found to be weakened and at worst, at risk of collapse.

Residents were then all moved out.

Since then Portsmouth City Council agreed to take down – or ‘deconstruct’ – both blocks and replace them with new housing.

The first piece was removed from Horatia House in January this year, as tearful former residents looked on.