Desperate Torry homeowners could be thrown a multi-million-pound lifeline “as soon as possible”, the new Housing Secretary has pledged.
A week into the job, Mairi McAllan was forced to address the Raac crisis – and mounting calls for Aberdeen City Council to repurpose government housing cash to help hard-hit homeowners.
North East Conservative MSP Liam Kerr had brought the issue to the Holyrood floor, urging the new cabinet secretary to “save lives with the stroke of her pen”.
There are 138 families living in former council housing, collectively fighting for the local authority to up its offer for the homes it sold containing the potentially dangerous concrete.
Another 360 council homes have been evacuated, with tenants moved all over the city.
Torry’s Raac crisis pushing residents to their limits
At The Press and Journal’s Trapped by Raac debate on Friday, local GP Dr Adrian Crofton revealed staff at the Torry Medical Practice were “taken aback” by the health impact of the crisis.
More than 60 patients are experiencing health problems directly attributed to the discovery of Raac in Balnagask, with conditions including depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress-related issues like chest pains.
People are also “tragically” turning to drink to cope with the uncertainty, while the “under attack” community tell their own troubling tales.
We’ve been told of one father contemplating driving into the harbour to allow his family to cash in on his life insurance, while another individual shared their “failure, dread, despair and self-harm and worse”.
What do Torry’s Raac-affected homeowners want?
Campaigners have brought forward their own proposals for the council to repair the roofs of a cluster of the affected properties in Balnagask, which they could then move into in exchange for their current homes.
But city chiefs want them to pay tens of thousands for fixing the roofs before the home swap can happen.
Torry Raac campaigners instead want the council – who built the properties – to foot the bill, estimating it would cost an extra £5 million on top of the wider demolition plans.
Either option – fixing the roofs or giving homeowners a pre-Raac valuation for their homes – is thought to come to cost the cash-strapped council about that same figure.
Where’s this potential £20m lifeline coming from?
In recent months, Mr Kerr has called for an unused – and seemingly – inaccessible £20m pot of Scottish Government housing cash to be made available to cover that cost.
The Housing Infrastructure Fund was unveiled as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal in 2016, aimed at helping to make costly development sites more viable for housing.
But despite Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils applying for funding for 12 different schemes, government officials have denied them at every turn.
With only another year to spend the time-limited cash, planning chiefs at both local authorities have made annual pleas for guidance on the mysterious eligibility criteria which is stopping them using the money.
However, when city and shire council chiefs were complaining of their “frustration” at being unable to access the fund, it was with a view to building potentially hundreds more affordable homes.
And Aberdeenshire Council will have its eye on a share of the money as well, already having been turned down for support for housing schemes in Balmedie, Blackdog, Ellon, Fraserburgh, Greenferns, Mintlaw and Peterhead.
New Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan could ‘save lives’ at risk in Torry Raac crisis
However, Mr Kerr believes even £5m of the pot would be enough to alleviate Raac homeowners’ concerns in Balnagask.
Having made his case to her predecessor, former housing minister Paul McLennan, and received no answer in his final weeks in the job, Mr Kerr told Ms McAllan she faced a choice.
He said: “With the stroke of a pen, she can instantly make this right for the people of Torry, for the thousands of people trapped by Raac across Scotland and – quite literally – save people’s lives.
“Or she can ignore the homeowners, follow the instructions of the SNP hierarchy, shift blame and forever reflect on the consequences of inaction.”
Mairi McAllan: ‘We’re not buck passing’
The housing secretary took issue with his charge of “buck passing”, as she presses Deputy Prime Minister (and English Housing Secretary) Angela Rayner for UK intervention.
“These properties were sold under right to buy, which long predates the devolution era,” she said.
“And that’s not buck passing.
“That is responsible governments and individuals bringing a coalition of responsible and responsive individuals together.”
What did new Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan say about the hope of Torry Raac cash?
But the Housing Secretary also offered hope of a quick decision on whether the untouched £20m could be brought into the fray.
“For the government’s part,” she added, “my officials have received and are considering Aberdeen City Council’s request for the Housing Infrastructure Fund to be repurposed to allow the local authority to support Raac efforts.
“I am getting advice on that currently and ministers will make a decision on that proposal in due course.”
Pressed on how soon that call will be made, she told MSPs: “I appreciate [we haven’t got a lot of time] and I will endeavour that the decision be made as soon as possible.
“But you’ll understand I have to consider the terms of it very carefully.”
New Housing Sec: ‘I would be glad to come to Torry’
Ms McAllan added she “would be glad” to meet with Torry residents too, but moved to reassure them that there would be no “lack of continuity” on the outcomes of their recent meeting with her predecessor.
“I will take forward the outcomes of that meeting,” she said, after campaigners summarised the pay-off from their ministerial meeting as “he (Mr McLennan) came, he saw, he did nothing”.
What hope does this give Torry’s Raac households?
At The P&J’s Raac debate, Aberdeen City Council co-leader Christian Allard was pressed for a straight answer by our editor Craig Walker.
Mr Walker asked: “If the council was given funding, would the homeowners receive what they want? Would they receive fair money?”
But the under-fire SNP co-leader refused to entertain hypotheticals, telling the audience: “I made it clear right from the outset, in all the meetings I have been in.
“I’m not going to promise any money, which I have no power on.
“Just now I can only work with the money we have and we are spending millions of pounds, not only to help our tenants and all that has cost us millions of pounds.
“And we’ll spend the money we need to spend to try to help owner occupiers as much as we can.
“And we’ll do it person per person, family by family, like we did for our tenants.”
SNP rift over council’s Raac response makes it to Holyrood
Having suggested homeowners could not spend another winter in their houses, the Torry councillor was criticised from within his own party.
SNP Aberdeen South and North Kincardine MSP Audrey Nicoll hit out: “I have to say… and I really don’t want to say this, but I am dismayed at what my colleague Christian Allard has said tonight.”
She also pledged to try and change the law to allow the £20m to be used to help with the Raac crisis, if need be.
During Wednesday’s Holyrood debate she took another shot at the city’s political chiefs.
“I strongly urge strong leadership – strong local leadership – to affect a timely and collaborative response centred on people, not cost, and fairness for everybody impacted.”
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