120-year-old Dundee flats, controversially declared beyond repair, will soon be demolished after a three-year wait.
The Blackness Road tenements will be razed as soon as Covid-19 restrictions permit, following a much-criticised decision by councillors in 2017.
The 26 flats will be replaced with affordable housing, with the total cost of the project coming in at an estimated £4.5 million.
The controversial move has been at the centre of claims of a superficial consultation process with the tenants, some of whom owned private flats and some in council accommodation.
Many of the flats at 219-245 were reported to be in good condition inside but the traditional external stairwells, known in Dundee as “pletties”, were marked as a growing concern.
Confusion over why the pletties could not be repaired at a much lower cost remains.
Compulsory purchase
The Scottish Government granted a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the 10 privately-owned flats in late 2019.
The council already owned 16 of the properties.
The Land Register of Scotland reveals the price the council paid for eight out of the 10 purchased.
Among the known prices, the highest amount paid was £120,000 for 237E.
Former councillor and housing convenor Jimmy Black said the fact the council paid so much to buy the individual flats raises questions.
He said full ownership also means any obstacle to repairing them has now been removed.
He said: “It’s clear from the prices paid that these flats were still valuable, attractive properties in the West End of Dundee.
“Rather than spending so much to buy out the owners and knock them down, the council could have helped them finance the repairs.
“Now the council owns all the flats and they are all empty.
“It’s a great opportunity to refurbish them to a high standard as attractive council houses. Doing that would save millions on the cost of demolition and new build. Why wouldn’t they?”
A report to the neighbourhood services committee states the option to use repair grants was explored at the time but found it would only cover a percentage of the owners’ costs.
The report stated the buy-back of the flats would cost an estimated £800,000.
Costs associated with the demolition are estimated to be around £310,000.
£3.4 million would be spent on the new building and could be aided by a grant of £1.2 to £1.7 million.
The figure given for repairing the stairwell was stated to be between £880,000 and £1.2 million.
