One of the last Skarne blocks in Dundee could be demolished in the further regeneration of the Whitfield housing estate.
The Scandanavian-style homes were an innovation when they appeared on the city’s northern landscape 40 years ago and were hailed as heralding a new beginning for families escaping overcrowded tenements in the inner city.
Their appeal faded, however, and by the 1980s they became more associated with urban blight and deprivation.
Most were redeveloped with the investment of private capital and next week the council will consider the fate of the last blocks standing.
The Skarnes in Ormiston Crescent need to be upgraded to meet the Scottish Housing Standard and a report to councillors explains that they are unpopular with tenants.
The block at 37-52 contains four one-bedroom, six two-bedroom and six three-bedroom flats, while the blocks at 53-64 and 65-76 have all two and three-bedroom flats.
A report by the director of housing recommends approving no more lets for the three blocks and to declare surplus and demolish the block at 37-52.
Tenants at 37-52 would be given priority for re-housing and statutory home loss payments of £1500.
Proposals would be developed for further consultation with tenants on transferring the two other blocks to the Angus Housing Association, which took over previous Skarne blocks.
If approved, the move will follow recent demolitions in the area to make way for low density housing with a mix of social landlords and owner-occupiers.
Housing convener Jimmy Black said, “At the moment we are considering two or three different ways of moving forward in partnership with our tenants and Angus Housing Association.
“They created a show house to demonstrate to tenants what their homes could be like and they were generally impressed.
“Their response convinced us that it was worth taking this to the next stage. The block we’re removing dominates the area and needs to go.
“We hope Angus Housing Association will build new homes on the cleared site but we don’t want to demolish any homes unnecessarily and improving two blocks will mean 24 families will have warm, comfortable homes in an increasingly popular area.”
He added that Angus Housing Association is still working out how much the project will cost but it will involve hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment for Whitfield.