Kenmure Street: Residents face months in limbo after tenement collapse in Glasgow's Pollokshields

People in Glasgow have been warned they could be displaced from their homes for at least six months after a tenement building collapsed in the city’s southside.

Homeowners of a block of flats at the corner of Kenmure Street, which burned to a shell after a fire in April 2020, had been on the brink of securing a deal with a housing association to take control of the site.

But the collapse has forced Glasgow City Council to take urgent action to make the site safe, with the estimated £500,000 clean-up bill now falling to individual owners due to the building’s self-factored status.

A number of residents living on either side of the block of flats on Kenmure Street and Albert Drive have been evacuated while the area is made safe for them to return.

‘It feels like a cosmic joke’

Pete MacDonald, who owned a flat in the tenement before it was destroyed by the blaze five years ago, said the collapse came just as a breakthrough had been reached.

Solicitors had been appointed on both sides and Southside Housing Association green-lit the handover in late June.

“For us, we could finally sign it away, this huge thing hanging over us would no longer be there,” Pete said. “We thought this was us, nearly in the clear.

“But what happened on Friday night has changed everything. I was gutted. Just because we’d been working so hard for such a long time.”

Pete said residents had initially hoped to rebuild following the blaze, but the plan became impossible as costs soared during the pandemic.

“Restating the building was always the aim,” Pete said. “When the process started, we were told it would cost £1–1.5m. But with Covid and the cost of building materials, that ended up at £4m.”

The building had been self-factored, meaning owners were individually responsible for arranging their insurance.

Pete was among the lucky ones with valid insurance cover, but he said some were undone by small errors in their paperwork that rendered their claims void.

“Unfortunately, minor mistakes had been made by a few neighbours. For example, when one couple came to claim, a mistake they made on the form meant it was null and void and they lost everything.”

Solicitors had been appointed and the handover was a few weeks away from completion.

However, when part of the structure gave way on Friday evening, the council was forced to step in and ordered emergency demolition works at short notice.

“Because it’s an emergency, the contractor charges the council a very large premium because it’s such short notice,” Pete said. “Then the council passes it on to whoever owns the building – and that’s us.

“In a couple of weeks’ time, maybe that was not going to be us. It’s the worst (pass the) parcel game you can imagine. We’re landed with this now.”

He added: “We’re not in the position to pay thousands of pounds to demolish a building that we’d already lost, that had been our home and been torn away from us because of an accident.

“It feels really cruel, like some sort of cosmic joke. It’s a lot to take in.”

Meanwhile, residents of a neighbouring tenement were evacuated due to structural safety concerns following the collapse last week and there is little clarity on when they can return home.

‘I have nothing left but tears’

Nazreen, her elderly mum Sughra and her 14-year-old daughter, are currently living with relatives after being told to leave their flat.

“We’re very upset and frustrated,” she said. “Especially with mum crying today and the day before. She just wants to be home, she is outside her comfort zone. It’s not ideal.”

Now squeezed into her brother’s home, Nazreen and her relatives have resorted to sharing beds and sleeping on floors.

Nazreen managed to grab her laptop, but most of their belongings – clothes, medication and essential items – were left behind.

Even her mother’s hearing aid remains in the flat and attempts to retrieve it were denied.

Sughra said: “All my medicines have been left inside and all of my clothes. I don’t even have a jersey to wear today. I have nothing.”

Nazreen added: “I’ve got one pair of shoes and set of clothes. I work in a professional field – I can’t go in joggers and a T-shirt, I need my clothes.

“Some of my files for clients are in there. I can’t concentrate, I need them to do my work.”

Nazreen’s daughter is also struggling with the sudden upheaval.

“We had just done our school shopping before it happened – her bag, her shoes, uniform – everything is in the house. All she’s got is her phone. She is depressed.”

Nazreen said poor coordination between agencies has worsened the situation. Despite spending hours on paperwork and phone calls, she’s been repeatedly redirected to different organisations.

“No one has the definite answer. We were told ‘it’s not our issue, your landlord needs to contact insurance’. If that’s the case from the start, why waste our time?”

After nearly a week of displacement, the only housing offer she’s received are properties miles away from home in Arbroath and Dundee.

“I live in Glasgow. What will I do in Dundee when my work is here, my daughter’s school is here, my family is here?”

The family face a wait of up to nine months to return home – though they fear it could go on longer.

“It’s a really horrible situation – I pray no one else has to deal with this.”

Sughra added: “My daughter cries all night, I cry all night. My young granddaughter, she’s also very upset.

“I have nothing left but tears.”

‘Like walking on eggshells’

Asifa and her family are among those who have been evacuated.

She said the situation has compounded existing challenges. Her husband suffered a brain aneurysm 18 months ago and now requires advanced care.

They are currently living at her sister’s home.

“We don’t have access to his main basic needs, like a special bathroom so he can have a shower. Because the house is overcrowded, his mental capacity is very low at the moment.

“He’s down emotionally and drained.”

Asifa said she is feeling “all over the place” dealing with the council and insurance companies.

She described years of concerns about the safety of the building and repeated complaints about flooding in the cellar and damp, caused by the condition of the fire-hit property next door.

“Living in the building was like walking on eggshells. We even hired an architect to check around the building and he said it wasn’t very safe.

“If they had sorted these matters out five years ago, we wouldn’t be in this situation – out of our house.”

She added: “We are so lucky to be alive and to be out of those buildings. We could have been homeless.

“We are under pressure and stress. We are paying our taxes. We’re doing everything they are asking, but we’re not getting what we need.”

Councillor Molyneux: ‘A devastating situation’

Pollokshields councillor Jon Molyneux attended a meeting with residents and other key agencies on Thursday.

“It’s such a devastating situation for them to be in,” he said. “A lot of work needs to be done to determine whether the buildings are safe and when they can go back.”

He said he personally understands residents’ frustration, having been evacuated from a fire-hit tenement in Pollokshields himself in 2010.

“I couldn’t access my home for a number of months. I know just how much additional hassle and anxiety that causes,” he said.

“Building control can only permit re-entry when it is safe. The focus right now is on making sure they can do their job as quickly as possible, assess what’s needed to make the building safe, and ensure residents get the support they need.

“Myself and other elected members will keep pushing to ensure people have a good outcome.”

He said “intensive” work had been under way over the past year with homeowners, developers and Southside Housing to safeguard the building, despite concerns from locals that it had been left derelict.

“People don’t necessarily understand the complexity, when you’ve got multiple owners and insurance situations. It is difficult, and the council’s powers are limited in what they can do.

“We were only about two weeks away from getting something signed and sealed that would’ve secured a positive future for that site. I hope that still happens.”