Support structures to be built at RAAC-affected Dundee homes under pilot scheme

Plans for a pilot scheme to build support structures at Dundee homes with potentially dangerous concrete (RAAC) have been approved by councillors.

The local authority’s housing committee met on Monday to discuss a tender for the £500,000 scheme.

Work will now be carried out at five void council properties in the city.

This will see a supporting deck built under the RAAC-affected roofs in each of these houses to ensure they are fully supported and made structurally redundant.

The local authority will then test these to see if they can be rolled out en masse across the city.

In addition to the pilot project, the RAAC within communal areas in five properties in Menzieshill will have their redundant roof-mounted water tanks decommissioned.

The work will begin in June and is scheduled to be completed in August

During Monday’s meeting, Labour group leader Kevin Keenan lodged an amendment calling for council chiefs to write to the Scottish housing and finance ministers in a bid to seek financial assistance for RAAC-affected homeowners.

But committee convener councillor Kevin Cordell said he could not accept the amendment in its entirety.

Instead, he agreed to invite the Scottish ministers to Dundee for further discussions on the RAAC crisis.

Hundreds of Dundee homes affected by RAAC

RAAC was commonly used in the construction industry in the 1960s and 1970s.

However, concerns over its limited lifespan have prompted fears of structural collapse in extreme cases if water gets through cracks.

Hundreds of homes across Dundee have been found to contain RAAC.

Dundee City Council previously said it had carried out numerous inspections across the city – finding RAAC present in 81 blocks of flats and 293 cottages.