Edinburgh councillors vote to look at repair option for troubled flats earmarked for demolition
Negotiations with owners will continue
Councillors have voted to look at the option of repairing a troubled Edinburgh block of flats instead of demolishing it.
But negotiations with owners who want to sell their flats at Westfield Court in Gorgie back to the council will continue.
The eight-storey block has been plagued for years by problems with leaking sewage pipes, the heating system, cladding panels, fire safety and flooding. And the council, which still owns 32 of the 94 flats, was aiming to get the entire block back into council ownership so it could be knocked down and replaced with social housing.
But last week owners were told that legal advice meant offers which had already been made, on the basis of "notional market value" - ignoring the condition of the building - were being withdrawn because legal advice had said it would not be in line with the council's "best value" obligations.
A special meeting of the housing committee was asked to endorse the move and approve plans to prepare compulsory purchase orders. But Green, Liberal Democrat and SNP councillors combined to throw out the recommendations by seven votes to four.
Instead the committee agreed it was not possible to decide what course of action would be "best value".
It reaffirmed the committee's decision in December that "any decision on the demolition of Westfield Court will be made by committee" and asked officials to provide cost estimates for a phased, multi-year repair programme so they could be compared with the costs of buying back all the flats, demolition and rebuilding, and allow the committee to decide "which represents best value in the short, medium and long-term".
It has previously been estimated investment of £48 million - or £500,000 per flat - would be needed to reinstate to the building to an acceptable standard.
Monday’s meeting agreed negotiations should continue with individual owners on the purchase of properties and officers should “proceed without delay” with these voluntary acquisitions, where legally and financially practicable, while also working on a potential compulsory purchase scheme if it is decided demolition and rebuild is the best approach.
Finance convener Mady Watt said the decision would just mean more and more reports before anything was done. “We’re going to go round and round in circles again.”
But Green councillor Ben Parker said the opposition motion did not seek to delay and he pointed to the uncertainty around best value.
He said: “Previously we’ve been told the cost of repair to the building. But we’ve not been told the cost under a CPO for the council to acquire each flat and the cost of the total demolition and redevelopment.”
Lib Dem councillor Louise Young called the decision “a measured and compassionate route forward”.
But Conservative councillor Phil Doggart said the decision was “kicking the can down the road” and it had let the residents down.
He said the matter would not be settled before next year’s council elections. “The residents are probably going to be sitting with a new bunch of councillors who will not know anything about the issue post-election and they will have to go through a lengthy process again.”
Earlier a deputation from Westfield Court Owners Group had urged the committee to continue with voluntary purchases rather than wait for the CPO process so it could buy all the flats at the same time. Spokeswoman Lisa Cockburn said: “The cheapest looking option at the outset doesn't necessarily represent best value overall - waiting brings further repair costs, CPO delays, officer time and potentially complicated compensation disputes - have those costs and risks properly compared with buying flats individually?”
And Westfield Courts Residents Association also urged a rethink and blamed the council for neglecting the block. Iftikhar Ali said: “Ideally we don’t go anywhere - we don’t want to sell, we don’t want to move on, we don’t want to start again somewhere else after decades of building our lives here - we want to stay in our homes and we want the council to fix what it let fall apart.
“For decades the council was in charge and the repairs were not made. If the council had been competent enough to sort hem back then, we wold not be in this situation in the first place.”
Housing convener Tim Pogson thanked the residents groups for speaking to the committee. “Despite the terrible situation they find themselves in, they were constructive and pragmatic and I’m just disappointed we weren’t able to give them more clarity on the future of Westfield Court.
“For all that, I respect the committee’s decision and want to reassure residents that our focus remains on maintaining open channels of communication and finding a positive way forward as soon as possible.”