Edinburgh Council has backtracked on plans to buy up properties to facilitate the demolition of Westfield Court after being notified that it will “likely” receive listed status. 

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.

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

According to Council authorities, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) have told them that the building will “likely” be listed following an application submitted in December.

Council officers were to put forward a report to the housing committee ahead of its next meeting on 1 June.

In it, officers were to recommend that the Council, the minority owner, buy up privately owned flats in the block “to ultimately facilitate demolition and redevelopment of the site.”

Graeme Reid, the Councils’ head of high-rise management and investment, said that the building “had continued to deteriorate” since the committee’s last meeting on the block in December 2025.

In its recommendations to councillors ahead of the next meeting, officers wrote “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.”

However, the final report will now be delayed after the Council was made aware that HES are likely to approve the building’s listed status.

Should the application be confirmed as successful in the coming weeks, the council would have to secure Listed Building Consent to undertake any work or proceed with any demolition plans.

Officers said that they believe listed status would be “highly likely” to increase projected costs of repairs in the building.

Councillor Tim Pogson, convenor of the housing committee, said the HES decision had “increased the challenge by adding uncertainty” and that the Council would consider appealing the decision.

He added: “We will need to wait and see what HES are actually saying.”

While Cllr Pogson and officers noted surprise at the decision, Mr Reid noted that Councillors had been made aware of the application to list Westfield Court was submitted to HES on 3 December—the day after the last committee meeting on Westfield Court.

Officers said that they knew of the application in December. When questioned by Deadline News why they did not account for the application being successful, officers replied that “there was no indication that it would be a successful application.”

When asked what was to be expected at the upcoming committee meeting, Mr Reid said that there would be “no recommendations for signing off from councillors at the next committee.”

A spokesperson for Historic Environment Scotland (HES), said: “We were asked in late 2025 to consider Westfield Court for listing.  Following research, our early view is that this innovative multi-storey block is of sufficient interest for listing, but we have not yet made a decision. 

“We are finalising our report, including gathering information on the current status of the building, and we expect to start a consultation on a potential listing in the coming weeks.”

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