A tenant campaign group has said that listing Westfield Court “would be a vital step” to protect residents from “displacement”.

Living Rent, which campaigns throughout Scotland, has also called on the City of Edinburgh Council to “pay its fair share of the repairs of Westfield Court and its failure as a factor to upkeep the building.”

Last week council officers said that they were forced to halt plans to buy up flats in Westfield Court after receiving notice from that the building will “likely” be listed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES). 

Westfield Court, a multi-storey block of flats which has stood in Gorgie for over 70 years, has faced uncertainty over its future for months amid severe problems.

While The City of Edinburgh Council is a minority owner, it remains as the factor of the building. 

A HES spokesperson said that their “early view is that this innovative multi-storey block is of sufficient interest for listing, but we have not yet made a decision.”

Living Rent, which has campaigned for several years to prevent the building from being demolished, welcomed the listing decision.

Barry Will, local organiser for Gorgie Dalry, said: “Granting listed status to Westfield Court would be a vital step toward protecting hundreds of Edinburgh residents from displacement. Council and private tenants, families, and homeowners all face the threat of losing their homes and community if the building is demolished.

“However, The City of Edinburgh Council has once again failed these residents by rescinding its offer to buy out these homes if building is granted listed status. These offers represented the only acknowledgment of the council’s long-term neglect of this historic building.

“Regardless of the listing outcome, the council must take responsibility and pay its fair share of the repairs of Westfield court and its failure as a factor to upkeep the building. What residents urgently need is a cost-effective repair plan that allows them to live in safe, dry conditions without being priced out of their homes.”

The group disrupted the last committee meeting in December in protest, with councillors postponing their vote on the future of Westfield Court.

Living Rent claimed their actions directly caused the vote’s delay and said in an online post that they had “staved them off”. 

A housing committee meeting planned for 1 June would have recommended councillors to proceed with the planned buyout. However, a council officer said that there would now be “no recommendations for signing off from councillors at the next committee.”

Officers have recommended to the committee that to bring forward a report “to provide clarity” on the HES decision.

In its recommendations ahead of the committee meeting, officers stated that they have been advised by an independent contractor who have advised that around £48million (circa £500k per property) is required to reinstate the building to an “acceptable standard.”

Officers add that the recommendation “would likely be impossible should listed status be awarded.”

The Council also confirmed that is has “absorbed all bills for FY25/26 at a cost of around £1.9m (with £1.25m being private owners shares) and that forecasted costs for ongoing reactive repairs are £53,000 per month (circa £500/month/property).”

During the briefing on Friday, housing committee convenor Cllr Tim Pogson said: “This listing issue just increases the challenge by introducing new aspect of uncertainty, meaning that the approach we had agreed will potentially have to be revisited, with implications for everybody who is involved. 

“The listing news has dropped a boulder in the middle of all the planning and we’re having to do a bit of a handbrake turn. The challenges, the cost issues and the implications for all owners, including ourselves, are much more difficult to manage and potentially insurmountable.”

The report by officers also adds that “the internal soil stacks continue to deteriorate with contractors now advising that safe working practices are no longer possible and also that crash decks have had to be erected at Westfield Court to prevent any potential harm from falling cladding.”

This article is provided by the news agency Deadline News Limited and published here with permission. 

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