A SHORTFALL of £500,000 is holding up a multi-million-pound urban renaissance scheme to sweep away "Cinderella" homes in the centre of Eastleigh.

Eastleigh Housing Association plans to bulldoze 135 flats and 24 maisonettes at the controversial Gardens estate and replace them with 151 new homes in a £14m redevelopment scheme.

Built in the late 1960s, The Gardens have been dogged with problems, blighted with a poor reputation and experienced a high turnover of residents.

But the scheme by Eastleigh Housing Association to breathe new life into the centre of Eastleigh's housing - which has already been given planning permission by Borough Council planners - has hit a hiccup.

Atlantic Housing Group, the housing association's parent company, has been awarded £2m by the Housing Corporation to help fund the redevelopment.

With £1m from Eastleigh Borough Council, £2m from Atlantic and £8.5m from private financing the funding is nearly in place but there is still a cash gap.

Atlantic's services director Patrick Shelley told the Daily Echo: "It is great news that the majority of our bid for grant funding has been accepted.

"However, there is still a shortfall in what is needed and we are in discussions with the Housing Corporation to investigate a range of options to ensure the project goes ahead without a reduction in the number of homes to be built."

He added: "We are keen to get the project moving and expect this funding issue to be resolved as soon as possible."

Maple Leaf Gardens resident Jackie Davenport, pictured right, a member of the United Gardens Action Group, told the Daily Echo: "We are hopeful that the scheme will go ahead as planned without a reduction in the number of homes.

"This development is vital not only to the residents of the Gardens but also to the urban regeneration of Eastleigh town centre."