Glasgow residents face £45m bill for essential quay wall repairs

Hundreds of homeowners claim they have been left in limbo and stuck in their homes amid a dispute about essential repairs to a quay wall at the River Clyde.

Many living along Windmillcroft Quay have been unable to sell their homes and have huge interest rates on their mortgages because of the dispute.

The public walkway along the Clyde has been closed off over public safety concerns due to the deteriorating quay wall.

Local resident Edwina Cramp told STV News the challenge of the repairs feels “insurmountable”.

She said: “When I first moved in here, we had access to the river, the path was open. But then we came home one day and the Council were just fencing off the area. We had no notification and they said it was because the quay wall was unstable.

“Shortly after we were all evacuated from our house. There were sinkholes opening, the slabs were moving, it was scary. Shortly after that, they took the wall down and padlocked everything.”

City Deal money had been assigned to fix the crumbling wall but when Covid hit, the costs to the repairs rose significantly and residents were told Glasgow City Council could no longer afford the cost of repair – said to be £45m.

Edwina added: “In all honesty, I felt sick to my stomach. I’ve been wanting to move on but all my savings are here, I’ve not been able to remortgage as I’m on a really high interest rate because they’ve seen the state next to the backdoor and I feel so stuck. I don’t know what to do.”

Residents in Windmillcroft Quay have been unable to sell their homes due to the crumbling wall STV News

Another resident, Rahul Rabariya, moved into his flat in December 2023. Just months later he learned that despite promises the wall would not be repaired.

He told STV News: “I’m stuck. I spent my life savings buying my first home. Now I can’t do anything about it other than worry about when it’s going to get fixed.

“Any refurbishment I think of planning for my flat, I can’t do it because I think ‘is it worth putting money in here’ as I’m worried about the future of my flat.”

The ownership of the quay wall is in dispute. It was meant to be passed from the housing developer to the 278 homeowners, but the deeds don’t clearly state who owns the land.

Kenny McFarland, chairman of The Waterfront Residents Owners Association, has lived in his home since September 2013 and has been fighting for the urgent repairs.

Residents paid £120,000 for vital safety fencing and some repair works since the issue began.

“People see this as a rich development,” Kenny said. “It’s not a rich development. It’s just normal people that live here.

“A lot of youngsters move here as their first flat and then want to move on to their first house.

A lack of clarity over who owns the quay wall has stalled urgent repairs STV News

“Some people bought in when Glasgow Council had agreed to build the wall with City Deal money but now they aren’t, those residents can’t sell their homes as the Council have changed their minds.

“The City Deal Fund was £1bn and that is being spent all over Glasgow at the moment on cycle lanes and making George Square look pretty. They are doing up opposite Carlton Place, but this side of the city is essential to be repaired.”

Glasgow City Council said a decision was made not to proceed with the project last year due to “excessively high costs”.

A spokesperson said: “These costs greatly exceed the available Glasgow City Region City Deal budget for the project. Throughout the design process a range of solutions were developed, assessed and re-appraised. After full analysis of the site and its conditions, the current design solution was the only viable option for City Deal investment.

“Therefore, there is no further design work or procurement procedure to follow under the City Deal programme.”