Government urged to use unspent £20m to fund RAAC work

A desperate plea to use an unspent £20m fund to help residents affected by the RAAC crisis has been turned down.

The cash was found sitting in the City Region Deal’s housing infrastructure fund.

It was launched by the Scottish Government to be used across the north-east back in 2016 as part of the 10-year deal – but it has never been spent.

There were hopes the money could be used to help with the ongoing RAAC crisis as Torry residents met SNP housing minister Paul McLennan during his visit last week.

Labour councillors submitted an emergency call to the council’s finance committee recently regarding the cash.

They wanted the sum to be used to offer RAAC victims the full value of their houses or to replace the material in homes across Balnagask.

Torry councillor Simon Watson said the pot of cash was a “little glimpse of hope” for residents.

But, he also warned that the £20m could be lost if it’s not spent in the near future and slammed local authority bosses for not doing enough to help.

“In the last 14 months there has been no formal approach from Aberdeen City Council to the Scottish Government for funding,” he said.

“Our council leaders have not even asked for support for our residents.”

Mr Watson noted that council co-leaders Christian Allard and Ian Yuill both sit on the City Region deal committee and oversee the spending of its funds.

However, he was aware that members of the City Region Deal and Scottish Government would need to rubber-stamp the spend.

Finance boss Alex McLellan argued that the funding solution needs to come in the form of a UK-wide Raac fund to support affected tenants as well as homeowners.

He said this would alleviate the “financial devastation” caused by raac.

McLellan stated this was the council’s position and asked chief executive Angela Scott to engage with Scottish Government on the matter.

He also noted that the City Region Deal cash was “not just our money” and was shared with Aberdeenshire Council.

“No stone will be left unturned in terms of accessing funding,” McLennan said.

He also admitted the council would need “significantly more” than £20m, saying: “That won’t touch the sides in terms of demolition and rebuild of the area, we need more.

“I would be surprised if cash-strapped Aberdeenshire Council were willing to give up that funding.

“It’s not funding that we can snap our fingers and use.”

He suggested the council may have to raise council tax or cut services to pay for private homeowners if funding can’t be found from the UK Government.

Meanwhile, council co-leader Christian Allard praised the “success” of the rehoming process.

“The vast majority of people have left their houses and have been rehomed.

“The housing team has worked hard to rehome so many of our tenants, it’s incredible work they have had to do through no fault of our own, the tenants or owners.”

Allard noted the “financial struggle” the council and residents have faced, saying the local authority earmarked £3m to help tenants move out.

“We promised our owners and occupiers that we would do the same for them,” he stated.

But, he argued that the UK Government ultimately had to help out by creating a national Raac fund.

The bubbly material was found to be in 500 council houses across Balnagask last year.

Aberdeen City Council intends to knock down properties affected by the potentially dangerous material by 2028.

This comes despite the fact that some homeowners are refusing to sell their beloved homes.

They are fighting for fair compensation as they currently face average losses of between £35,000 and £55,000 for the sale of their homes.