A former homeless unit in Montrose will be put up for sale by Angus Council eight years after being gutted by fire.
The four-storey property at Queen’s Close was closed after being devastated by fire in 2007 and was subject to a £355,000 refurbishment.
The Courier has learned the building was offered on two separate occasions to Hillcrest Housing Association to provide a homeless service following the revamp but they deemed it was “not suitable for purpose”.
Neighbouring property owners made various formal complaints to the council about the Queen’s Close Homeless Unit when it was previously in operation.
Several inquiries were recently received from neighbours concerned that the council had plans to re-open the unit fearing it would lead to antisocial behaviour.
Head of planning Vivien Smith has admitted that there would have been a “high risk of issues emerging”.
A council spokesman said: “In common with other council buildings, it has been subject to appropriate maintenance over the intervening years, while opportunities for its use have been explored.
“We are currently rationalising our property portfolio and identifying surplus buildings to ensure that what properties we retain meet the needs of the council and its customers.
“At the same time, we have been consulting Angus citizens on how we can best provide our services.
“Both these activities concluded that Queen’s Close is not required as a homeless unit and would not be effective for any other council use.
“It is, therefore, surplus to requirements.
“We now provide temporary accommodation for homeless people in individual housing units integrated within communities throughout Angus.
“This is in response to what customers have told us.
“It enables them to stay close to their support networks of family and friends and it is also more cost-effective than running large single buildings with multiple units.
“Furthermore, residents in Montrose told us they did not want the building in Queen’s Close to be used as a homeless unit.
“We listened to these comments and the building will be put on the open market shortly.”
A spokeswoman for Hillcrest said: “We were offered the building on two occasions to provide a homeless service in the area.
“However, the building was not suitable for purpose so we did not progress.”