Demolition of Edinburgh tower block held up by one resident

The demolition of an Edinburgh housing block is being held up by one tenant who is refusing to leave their home, according to a council document.

It comes as its twin block to the south has had its own demolition delayed because the council cannot find where to house its remaining residents.

Councillors scrutinised the document covering Inchmickery Court, and its neighbouring tower Oxcars Court, at a housing committee meeting on Tuesday.

Demolition of the 73-year-old buildings, located on a single site in Muirhouse, was first publicly proposed in September of last year and approved by councillors in December.

But Inchmickery Court’s demolition is being held up by one tenant, who has not engaged with the council’s efforts to house them elsewhere.

The document reads: “There is one remaining tenant in the block, so essential services are being maintained while the eviction process proceeds through the Sheriff Court.

“Officers from the High-Rise Management and Investment (HRMI) team are in regular contact with the Locality team to help support this process as required.

“Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are aware that Inchmickery Court is vacant with the exception of one residence, and the HRMI are meeting with the Tenant Safety Team to take a proportionate approach to the continued maintenance of this block.”

Meanwhile, officers on Tuesday said the demolition of Oxcars Court has been held up because the council does not have the capacity available elsewhere to move tenants out of the block.

In the document, they add that city staff are ‘available’ to residents with questions about the planned decant of tenants, and that they will communicate to residents when demolition becomes possible.

Both blocks are wholly owned by the council, meaning it did not need to buy out any private owners to clear the way in bringing down the towers.

Mould, damp and outdated services now plague the twelve-storey blocks, with 68 tenants living in Oxcars and one in Inchmickery as of late November last year.

When drafted, the planned remediation works would tackle the issues that face the blocks at a cost of £51m.

But upon seeking contractors to carry out the required works, council officers learned that remediating the problems with the buildings would cost £86m.

In a report to councillors in September, officers said that demolishing and replacing the blocks after moving the residents to other council properties was the most cost-effective option.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service visited Oxcars Court in September, soon after the demolitions were announced.

Residents said they were ‘resigned’ to their fate, and several added they were dissatisfied with the council’s level of communication on the demolitions.

Some felt demolishing the blocks was the right option, citing the poor condition of the buildings.

But others said they didn’t trust the council to replace the blocks, and had little faith it could carry out the project well due to their poor communication with tenants.

One told the LDRS: “The residents just feel absolutely left out of it altogether.

“If [the council] can’t listen to residents about a complaint about another tenant, how are you going to listen to a complaint about the state of the building?”

In December, housing convener and Labour councillor Tim Pogson said: “There has now been a significant change of strategy due to the market and the commissioning responses that have been received.

“It seems to be a pretty well-supported proposal in general by most groups, who are content to see this progress.”

As of December, the council proposed to replace the two towers with a 150-flat development, though larger projects on the site were proposed.