Future of ‘deteriorating’ multi-storeys hangs in the balance with council

Knocking down Aberdeen’s ageing city centre multistorey flats and finding residents new homes could prove cheaper than doing them up to modern standards.

Replacing the eight high rises could cost up to £378 million over the next 30 years, according to city chiefs.

But improving the existing blocks at Gilcomstoun Land, Marischal Court, Virginia Court, Seamount Court, Porthill Court, Thistle Court, Greig Court and Hutcheon Court could cost even more.

Modernising the blocks could top £400m – or around £480,000 per flat – over the next three decades.

The immediate future of the blocks is expected to be decided next summer.

Before then, council bosses want to undertake “extensive” consultation with tenants, owners and others with an interest in the listed buildings.

Complete demolition is one of five options priced up by Aberdeen City Council, which still owns the vast majority of the properties.

If that went ahead, residents would gradually be moved out and the city would look to buy privatelyowned properties in the block.

The local authority will weigh up the cost of replacing the number of homes in its high rises, against continued investment in staving off age-related deterioration.

Even if the high rises are left as they are today, the local authority bosses believe each flat would cost them £270,000 to maintain over 30 years.

That option would involve only necessary investment to keep the blocks going and to address a backlog of repairs.

The Press and Journal has calculated costs based on the 839 flats in the city centre blocks, though Aberdeen City Council owns only 633 of those.

But the details of the business case explaining the costs in greater detail, along with in-depth surveys of the towers, have not been shared publicly.

They will be discussed behind closed doors by the city finance committee on Wednesday.

Engineering consultants Faithful and Gould have advised Marischal College top brass that “significant investment” is needed to even return the blocks to a satisfactory standard.

Roofs are in bad condition, while the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems need investment too.

The consultants also noted the reinforced concrete the blocks are built from is “deteriorating”. The external fabric is “in generally poor condition”.

It’s worst on the five oldest blocks, now around 60 years old.

Reinforced concrete should last between 50 and 100 years. But city pollution and the harsh winds coming off the North Sea can reasonably be expected to shorten that lifespan.

Despite this, those five oldest towers – Gilcomstoun Land, Marischal Court, Virginia Court, Seamount Court and Porthill Court – were A-listed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

Despite incoming increased environmental standards for council homes, the heritage quango ruled the “brutalist”, postwar design of the towers was worth recognition.

By 2025, some flats on the exposed sides of the high rises won’t meet Scottish energy efficiency standards.

Though there will be exemptions, those council-owned homes rated D or worse for energy efficiency should not be relet, strictly speaking.

Chief corporate landlord officer Stephen Booth has briefed councillors that lesser standards set in 2015 had already proved “impractical to fully meet”.

The blocks are already exempt because of legal disputes, or work not being technically possible or being “disproportionately” pricey.

It is feared the listed status will only increase that cost. But before the eight tower blocks – later reduced to five on appeal – in Aberdeen were listed, HES deputy head of designations Dawn McDowell told us the buildings would not be “frozen in time”.

“Maybe in 10 years we can decide if the buildings would still need to be listed,” she added.

A final decision is not expected to be made before next summer.

HIGH COSTS: Seamount Court is one of eight multi-storeys to be discussed by Aberdeen City Council on Wednesday.

Virginia Court in Aberdeen’s city centre.