Maisonettes The Maisonettes were a row of seven flats which stood on the south side of Coronation Street between 1968 and 1971 . Built by Weatherfield Council to replace the Glad Tidings Mission Hall and Elliston ' s Raincoat Factory , the maisonettes were an example of brutalist architecture . The block was comprised of four two - storey , three bedroom apartments , each with ground level access , and three OAP ground - floor flats . Construction began in February 1968 under the supervision of foreman Wilf Jones , with Fairclough and Booth installing the plumbing . The work was completed by the end of May , with the only hiccup being a threatened strike by the builders due to Len Fairclough keeping Stan Ogden employed on the site after Stan dropped a partition from the second storey and scalding the foreman ' s foot with boiling water . The strike was averted when Len and Jerry Booth agreed to transfer Stan to the Builder ' s Yard . As they neared completion , locals were invited to put their names down for a maisonette . All three OAP flats were allocated by the council but Len managed to arrange with Mr Ironfield at the Town Hall for Ena Sharples , the former caretaker at Glad Tidings who had lost her home when the bulldozers moved in , to be housed at No . 6 . Across the street , Valerie Barlow was attracted by the glamour of the new apartments and persuaded a reluctant Ken to put their names down for one . The Barlows became the only family in Coronation Street to move across to the maisonettes . Despite the initial burst of enthusiasm from local residents , in the long term the maisonettes were not well received and by 1969 a few were still empty . Neighbours blamed the dereliction of the maisonettes on the fact that they were damp and cheaply built . In January 1971 , the night before the Barlows were due to leave for a new life in Jamaica , Valerie was electrocuted in her home , dying instantly . In the process , Valerie knocked an electric fire into a packing case , starting a fire which spread through the entire block . Fire teams managed to contain the blaze , but the fire exposed structural faults in the building and the council therefore condemned the property and demolished it . A Community Centre and the Mark Brittain Warehouse were erected in their place . List of apartments . 4 Coronation Street . Widow Effie Spicer lived in this ground floor flat from 26th June 1968 to 26th March 1969 . 6 Coronation Street . Ground - floor OAP flat inhabited by Ena Sharples from June 1968 for a year . No . 6 was a homecoming of sorts for Ena , as it was built on the foundations of her old Mission accommodation . In 1969 , deciding she ' d had enough of No . 6 , Ena accepted Ernie Bishop ' s offer of a caretakership , with a flat , at his camera shop . 12 Coronation Street . Dave Robbins expressed an interest in this two - storey flat , next door to the Barlows , in 1969 . His real reason was to move in a squatter family of a mother and three children after her husband had been sent to jail for three years . The occupancy divided the residents of the street along political and moral lines but after a week the family moved out before they could be evicted by Len Fairclough and the council after a farmer in the Cheshire village of Chelford offered the mother , Mrs Storey , a job and accommodation to go with it . 14 Coronation Street . Two - storey flat with ground - floor entrance , situated directly above No . 6 . The Barlow family - Ken , Valerie , and twins Peter and Susan - lived there from June 1968 until January 1971 . The family previously lived at 9 Coronation Street , directly opposite the maisonettes . In July 1968 , escaped rapist Frank Riley trapped Valerie inside No . 14 . Valerie managed to summon help by banging on the water pipes , which was overheard by Ena Sharples downstairs . Ena raised the alarm after hearing the phone go unanswered at the Barlows ' , enabling the police to move in and arrest Riley . No . 14 , and presumably the other three two - storey apartments , had an open plan living / dining room , with a sliding door separating the living room and kitchen . Two windows were situated on the wall between the hall and living room , giving the Barlows a glimpse of their visitors before they walked through the door .