By Bruce Fegen

HOUSES IN Coaltown of Wemyss which are being put up for sale by landlord Wemyss Properties are being taken off the market for three months to give preferred bidder Kingdom Housing Association time to put together an offer.

Company chairman William Wemyss said yesterday that it would be signing an exclusivity agreement with Kingdom this week to give the association until October 31 to work on its bid and stressed that during this time the houses will not be marketed and no discussions with other interested parties will be held.

The move follows a public meeting in the village last week at which Kingdom asked for time to put together an offer without fear of other bids.

Mr Wemyss, who apologised to tenants for the “insensitive” way in which they had been informed about the sale, promised to discuss the request with his fellow directors.

He revealed yesterday that the portfolio now forms 43 houses and not the 49 originally stated.

One was taken off the market immediately it was realised it belonged to a Wemyss Estate worker whose 97-year-old mother-in-law lived with him, offers have been accepted from tenants of four properties and the sale of a fifth is expected to be concluded soon.

Outlining the exclusivity agreement, Mr Wemyss said, “We take our commitment to residents very seriously and we would never knowingly sell to a landlord who had interests adverse to those of the residents.

“We want to see Kingdom take on the houses and so we are pleased to have an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment by taking the properties off the market and signing an exclusivity agreement.

“I very much hope that the local funding bodies will now put Kingdom Housing in a position where it can make an acceptable offer, it is critical that they get the right support.”

He continued, “We now look forward to giving Kingdom every assistance in order to achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome for all concerned and I hope this move will be received well by the community.

“Throughout the three-month period we will be keeping residents informed of developments and will continue to liaise closely with Marilyn Livingstone MSP and other elected members.”

Wemyss Properties re-emphasised it had never intended to market the houses as holiday homes and confirmed that selling agent Savills had withdrawn a brochure that had given rise to this misleading impression.

Mr Wemyss, who once again urged residents to contact him directly if they had any queries, added, “Our family has been around this area for hundreds of years and the sale of the houses is not an exiting of the area.

“We are committed to the area and will continue to invest.”