OWNERS of Glasgow’s historic tenement flats are mounting a collective campaign against council repair bills “issued at random” that could see some blocks forced to pay up to £150,000 and is said to have led to property sales falling through.
The local authority selected 500 flats out of an estimated 70,000 that pre-date 1919 after analysing drone footage of the red and blonde sandstone buildings.
Blocks were graded from one to three, with a follow-up visit and a visual survey examining the exterior of the buildings including windows, roofs and entrances.
The inspections were carried out last year with reports sent out to individual factors in the past few weeks.
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The council say the surveys are advisory in nature and aim to get a better understanding of the condition of the city’s oldest tenements.
A spokesman said it would be up to factors and owners themselves if they wish to take forward repairs and said the work should have ‘no impact’ on property sales while grant aid is available.
However, owners have questioned the fairness of the process, given the small percentage of tenements that have been selected for scrutiny.
It is not known if all the factors involved would be likely to pursue the cost of repairs aggressively. Some tenements are also factored by housing associations, which are legally required to pursue bill costs.
Catriona Forrest, who lives in the city’s south side, claims the report led to the sale of her flat falling through. She said she sought legal advice and was told she was obliged to share it with the prospective buyer.
She said the value of her property has plummeted by 20 per cent “in the space of a week”. Her block of eight flats has been told around £150,000 of works are required including “urgent” repairs to the exterior.
She said: “In the space of the week my flat has gone from being Home Report plus 10%, to Home Report minus £20K (approximately my share of the estimated repair bill), although I would be very lucky to find someone who would buy into this now.
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“I’ve lost thousands since receiving the report, plus my removal costs, solicitors fees and all the associated costs and hassles of selling a flat. My buyers, and the seller of my next property, have all lost out too.”
Valerie Ingles, who also lives in the south of the city, said she has approached her local MP to intervene to ensure the repairs process is “fair and equitable” while dozens of owners have formed a campaign group.
She said: “It is shocking and unfair treatment of a random selection of the residents of the city under the pretext of a regeneration project. If the council is commencing with a regeneration project, surely this must apply to ALL the tenements in Glasgow.
“I guarantee that every sandstone tenement in Glasgow will show a similar degree of deterioration and wear and tear. It makes no sense.”
Tenements were first built to house the huge influx of urban manual workers to the city during the industrial revolution of the Victorian era. The earliest were built between 1850 and 1900.
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A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The council carried out 500 building condition surveys on tenements over 100 years old across the city with the aim of giving a better understanding of property conditions in this important part of Glasgow’s housing stock.
“From this work, we created reports – which are advisory in nature – and shared these with the factors responsible for these tenement buildings as information.
“Given the number of Glasgow’s tenements, a project to carry out a conditions survey on all of those would be an enormous piece of work, so this project was limited but large enough to provide a cross-section of conditions in the city.
“These reports cannot affect the sale of the flats covered through this project: anyone interested in buying would be having a survey of the flat/building of their own carried out, and this would inform their offer.”
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