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A dozen one-bedroom cottage flats on Tarvington Close in Cheetham, of which three are occupied, will be pulled down. The demolition will cost ?48,000 plus ?6,000 in compensation payments to tenants.

Manchester City council will lose ?6,790 rent a year but will save ?1,693 on annual repairs.

An empty three-bedroom house on Fulmead Walk, Cheetham will also be demolished at a cost of ?11,000. The house is part if a terrace of homes which are being converted to provide a Cheetham Family Resource Unit.

In Thornton Street North, Harpurhey, eight one-bedroom cottage flats will be pulled down costing the council ?40,000 for demolition and ?4,000 to compensate two tenants. The council will lose ?4,404 a year in rent but save ?700 a year in repairs.

A three-bedroom house in Cartmel Walk, Harpurhey is to be demolished along with an adjoining house due to structural faults. Demolition will cost ?5,000 and the tenants will receive ?2,000 compensation. The council will lose ?2,836 in rent but save ?1,050 in repairs.

Housing chiefs justify the decision because, they say, there is no demand for the homes which are unpopular with potential tenants and have become a target for vandals.

Manchester City Council's housing director told the city's executive that tenants and councillors have been consulted and that there have been no objections to the plans.

The director said: "Those tenants who still live there can experience a poor quality of life and many will actively seek alternative accommodation.

"The dwellings covered by this report are all in neighbourhoods which have a high number of similar vacant properties for which there is low or no demand.

"A rigorous option appraisal process is conducted by senior officers of Manchester Housing prior to recommending demolition or disposal which is only considered as a last resort."