Owners of evacuated Glasgow tenement 'fed up paying mortgages on homes left to rot'

Seven years since being evacuated from their property, homeowners in the southside of Glasgow say they’re fed up paying mortgages on flats that have been left to rot.

The tenement on Annette Street in Govanhill was deemed unsafe by the city council in 2016 after an internal wall collapsed.

A notice has been served for the building to be demolished and residents were deemed liable for the repair costs.

Michael Borland bought the ground floor property for his daughter to live in.

“It’s a nice area, nice Georgian stone built houses so she really liked the house but then things fell to bits, literally,” he told STV News.

“The wall started to bow and the bow put a crack across it and the wall actually collapsed.”

He has been paying a mortgage for the property despite not being able to live in it.

“I don’t think it’s fair it should have been settled many years ago,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have affected the property at all, it’s costing me quite a bit of money to do nothing with it but the lack of information is really the worst thing about it.”

After a lengthy legal battle which involved the building’s factor, Cumming, Turner and Watt Property Management and insurance company, Covea Insurance, the back of the property was stabilised.

But since then, homeowners say there’s been no information about what is going to happen next.

“We can’t keep going on like this, it’s seriously impacting people’s mental health,” said Raz Parnez, who owns a top floor flat in the building.

“This whole street has been renovated, except for our block, look at the state of it. We need work done here as a matter of urgency.

“The insurance company and factors have taken a step back. We feel the factors should have done a lot more to help us settle this claim with Covea Insurance. Everybody’s upset. It’s one step forward and ten steps back.”

Glasgow City Council said it is still in talks with the owners’ and insurers’ legal teams.

In a statement a spokesperson said: “The parties have not been forthcoming on their plans for the building nor the issues for the delays in making any decision. The council has written to them on a number of occasions expressing serious concerns about the delay.”

Cumming, Turner and Watt Property Management, which is responsible for maintaining the building, claims it is waiting for a response from the insurance company before it takes any action.

Covea Insurance told STV News: “We want to conclude the matter for all parties, as quickly as we can. Our aim is to do so by the end of June where we will be in touch with the appointed representatives.”