By Drew Sandelands
Copyright glasgowlive
Three empty homes including a problem flat on Paisley Road West are set to be bought by Glasgow’s council and then repaired for use by homeless people or families.
Councillors have agreed to push ahead with plans to compulsory purchase a property in Cardonald and two flats in Dennistoun.
Families have twice needed to be moved out of home at 1610 Paisley Road West as it fails to meet tolerable standards. Council officials reported there was a “hazardous” electricity meter, deemed an immediate risk to life, which had to be removed.
They also said there is a closing order in place and the flat has been a “source of water ingress damage to commercial properties beneath”.
If the compulsory purchase order [CPO] goes ahead, Southside Housing Association, which owns the majority of flats in the building, would take over the flat and use it as emergency accommodation for homelessness services.
In Dennistoun, two empty flats at 45 Aberfoyle Street are also being targeted through CPOs. One of them was damaged by fire in 2016 and, council officials reported, it has been “neglected and allowed to deteriorate”.
They added the late owners’ daughter has “not taken the necessary steps to legally inherit the property to date”. The other flat in the building, which was also damaged by the 2016 fire, is owned by Macaron Properties Ltd, which was dissolved in 2018.
Both properties would be taken over by Milnbank Housing Association which would carry out necessary repairs before using them as social housing.
Funding for the acquisitions, if compensation is claimed by the owners, will be available from the Scottish Government-funded affordable housing supply programme. Owners will be given the chance to sell properties voluntarily prior to the confirmation of the CPO.
Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for housing and development, said, in the face of a housing emergency, the scale of Glasgow’s empty homes programme is “a very welcome recent success story”.
He added: “The compulsory purchase of these three homes will allow local housing associations to provide much-needed accommodation to homeless people or families.”
Cllr Fiona Higgins, Labour, asked officials what steps had been taken to encourage voluntary sale or refurbishment of the homes.
An official said there had been a “lot of engagement with the owners”. For us to take this to the Scottish Government, we have to demonstrate that we’ve tried everything that we can to get this brought back into use and this is the last resort essentially,” she added.
The official also said it is “difficult to put your finger on” the costs of repairs as some properties can’t be entered until the CPO process is complete.
“We don’t necessarily know what the repair situation is like”, she said, before adding that the internal condition of the Dennistoun homes is “very good” and common repairs had been carried out after the fire.
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