By Gary Cooper

MORE THAN 70 council flats in Angus look set to be reduced to rubble because no one wants to live in them.

Not one of the properties earmarked for demolition at Newmonthill, Forfar, and Marywell Gardens in Kirriemuir has been sold to tenants under right-to-buy rules.

Council officials are so exasperated at the difficulties they have faced with the hard-to-let flats they are ruling out spending on improvements, fearing it will be good money after bad.

Earlier moves by the local authority to stop offering the unpopular flats for rent, after allegations over the behaviour of some residents, means there are just 21 out of the 73 now occupied.

Neighbourhood services director Ron Ashton will today appeal to councillors to allow the flats to be razed, the sites cleared and to agree to redevelop the land for affordable housing.

Mr Ashton says in a report on the options facing the council that significant difficulties have been encountered by housing staff in letting the empty properties.

Figures he collected for Newmonthill show that just 38% of offers made to people on the housing waiting list from April, 2002, to September, 2004, were accepted.

“In addition to this, there is evidence to suggest that a significant stigma developed amongst applicants for housing in relation to the flatted properties at both Newmonthill and Marywell Gardens,” he explains.

Councillors agreed to cease letting the 33 flats at Marywell Gardens in early 2004, and did the same for the 40 flats in Newmonthill the following year.

Mr Ashton continues, “This decision was taken in the light of low demand for tenancies, increasing levels of stock turnover and some possibly related allegations of anti-social behaviour and criminal activity.”

He feels the lack of private and rented properties side-by-side might have contributed to the problem, by tending to concentrate families with low incomes and relatively high support needs in both places.

The traditional approach to regenerating Newmonthill and Marywell Gardens would have involved focussing on options such as catch-up repairs, cosmetic refurbishment of stock and selective demolition and environmental improvements.

“However, the stock concerned is now between 30 and 40 years old and it is clear from the difficulties in letting and managing these properties that they no longer meet the expectations and aspirations of current and prospective tenants and can now only be allocated to a narrow range of clients,” Mr Ashton states.

“Previous investments in repairs and refurbishment have been expensive and have not delivered sustainable solutions apart from a short extension of the lifespan of the properties.

“Members now have the opportunity to take these areas forward and make a positive impact in these communities.”

He says site clearance and building new homes is the only way of tackling the problems.

Mr Ashton is looking at a mix of social rented housing, affordable housing and possibly housing for sale on the sites, which will likely involve the council teaming up with a social landlord or a developer.

Demolishing the flats will cost around £264,000 and home-loss and disturbance payments to the remaining tenants will add about £44,000 to the bill.

Lost rental income would be £46,000 a year, although it will be offset by tenants moving into vacant council properties.