Council to take over unsafe Govan flats to start revamp
INHABITABLE flats could be taken over in a compulsory purchase order to allow for the regeneration of a Govan tenement building.
Glasgow councillors are expected to back the move to buy two derelict properties at 7 Ibrox Street tomorrow.
The plan would see the flats transferred to Govan Housing Association, which owns the other four flats in the tenement.
Repairs would then be carried out before the flats are let for social rent.
Funding for the project will be handed over to the housing association by the Scottish Government, through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
However, the owner will be given the opportunity to sell the flats voluntarily throughout the compulsory purchase process.
In a report, Richard Brown, Executive Director of Regeneration and the Economy, said: “When owners failed to carry out essential repairs to bring their properties up to the tolerable standard, Govan Housing Association (Govan HA) was asked by the Council to target the voluntary acquisition of all of the flats.
“All flats are now empty and, following the collapse of the ceiling in the common close, the entrance to the building was deemed unsafe.
“The flats and close doors have now been secured by the Council to prevent access to the property.”
This order follows a move in March to buy up seven flats in Westmoreland Street, Govanhill. In that case, an entire tenement block, with existing residents, in an area notorious for private rented slum housing was targeted.
Govan Housing Association has acquired four flats in the Ibrox Street block on a voluntary basis but the remaining two are still owned by a former private landlord.
One flat is subject to a standard security but “despite the non-payment of the mortgage the lender is refusing to act and repossess the property”.
“The property remains a constant source of concern and is blighting an area which is currently undergoing physical regeneration,” Mr Brown’s report states. “The Council is left with no other option but to promote a compulsory purchase order.”
Once the purchase had been complete, repairs would need to be carried out to common areas of the building while all the flats would need refurbished.
Govan Housing Association would take on factoring of the property and put a maintenance plan in place.
This move comes as the Council works in partnership with the housing association to develop a strategy for the Ibrox/Cessnock area.
They want to tackle problems with poor property
letters@ eveningtimes. co.uk or
on Facebook or Twitter condition in pre-1919 private tenement stock.
“One of the key components of the strategy is the targeted acquisition of flats in specific closes where there is a high concentration of private landlords and conditions in the property are giving cause for concern,” states the report.
“Glasgow’s housing strategy also highlights as a priority the need to tackle the problem of empty homes, making use of statutory compulsory purchase powers in areas where a strategic priority has been identified and this is the only course of action available to the Council.”