Edinburgh Council to stop buying Westfield Court flats in bid to enable demolition after vote

Edinburgh Council will stop plans to buy up properties in a city high-rise block to enable a possible demolition, and continue to consult on the building’s future, after a vote by councillors.

It comes as news has emerged that Westfield Court in Gorgie could become a listed building, complicating the future of the minority council-owned high-rise block.

An effort by some councillors to continue the buyback, in order to support residents who wanted to take up the offer, was stopped by a vote of six to five.

Housing convener and Labour councillor Tim Pogson said residents had been put in a difficult situation by the issues surrounding it.

The block faces a number of problems, including damage from sewage leaks that the council said in November were beyond economical repair, as well as problems with communal heating, fire safety, concrete cladding panels and flooding.

The council announced it wanted to demolish the blocks due to the issues in November, and set about plans to buy properties in the block to reach full ownership and enable this.

But the structure becoming listed could cause significant complications to demolition plans, which themselves have become politically contentious.

At present, the council acts as a factor for the block, while owning 32 flats itself, with another 62 privately owned.

Cllr Pogson added that he was grateful to council officers for work they had done around the block in ‘very difficult circumstances’.

According to a report before councillors at Monday’s housing committee meeting, the council has absorbed £1.9m in costs for the buildings from owners, in line with a previous agreement by the committee.

It added that ongoing ‘reactive’ repairs for the block were expected to cost £53,000 per month, or £500 per flat in the building.

Further, officers stated in the report that works had been under way to decant council tenants in the block due to safety concerns.

Some 21 of 32 council-owned flats in the block were void at the time the report was published.

Earlier in the meeting, residents of the block said that they had been placed in an unfair situation, and that the council had not communicated with them effectively about decisions being taken on it.