Dundee councillors approve £21m scheme to repair RAAC-affected homes

A multi-million-pound repair scheme for hundreds of RAAC-affected homes in Dundee has been approved by councillors.

New structures will be installed directly below roofs containing RAAC, ensuring the potentially dangerous concrete is fully supported.

The £21m plan was approved at a neighbourhood, housing and communities committee on Monday.

A report drafted for councillors said nearly 1,000 properties across the city have been found to contain RAAC.

The first phase of the programme will see work carried out at 48 properties, including four that are privately owned, on Whitfield Avenue and Kirk Street.

Work on this phase is expected to begin in January.

Further phases and a detailed breakdown of the included areas will be confirmed in future reports.

Private homeowners could be hit with bills

However, private homeowners living in properties where the work is being carried out could be forced to cover their share of the bill.

The report said that “the remediation programme is focused on homes owned by the council or in blocks where the council retains an interest”.

Yvette Hoskins, vice-chair of the Dundee RAAC Campaign Group, asked councillors to consider alternative options.

This included full RAAC removal from homes or a buy-back scheme, allowing private owners to sell their property to the council.

She told the meeting: “These are real people facing real devastation. RAAC is having a profound impact on their lives.

“Dundee currently holds the highest number of Raac properties across the whole of Scotland.

“It is paramount that we should not be treated as statistics and numbers.

“That financial flexibility should and must be available.

“People are becoming really unwell with this.”

Despite this, council officers said that a buy-back scheme would not be viable.

Councillors approve RAAC remediation plan

Council leader Mark Flynn put forward an amendment during the meeting.

This asked the chief executive to write to Angela Rayner, the UK Government’s secretary of state for housing, and the Scottish Government’s Shirley-Anne Somerville, seeking financial support and a dedicated funding mechanism for owner-occupiers affected by Raac.

He also asked for assurances that work carried out to remediate Raac would be accepted by both mortgage providers and insurers

The move was unanimously backed by councillors.