Easterhouse flats set to be bought by council

Three flats in “disrepair” are set to be bought by Glasgow City Council as they are a “blight” on Easterhouse.

Two properties at 102 Lochdochart Road and one at 3 Dunphail Drive could be the subject of compulsory purchase orders under the plan. The council has said it wants to bring the homes “back into use as social housing and improve the condition of the housing stock” in the city.

Lochfield Park Housing Association (LPHA) would take over the management of the three properties if the orders go ahead. Councillors will be asked to support progressing with the plan at a meeting on Thursday.

Council officials have reported: “All three flats are identified on the council tax register as long-term empty homes. The properties are in various states of disrepair and causing environmental blight in the local area.”

A ground floor flat at Lochdochart Road has been empty since August 2002, a council report stated. The housing association has made attempts to buy the property but has “failed as the person claiming ownership of the flat cannot prove that he has title to the property”.

LPHA was “forced to secure this ground floor flat to prevent access and protect the other residents in the building” in July 2019, the report added.

A first floor flat at 102 Lochdochart Road has been empty since September 2021, according to council officials. They have received no response to “several attempts” to encourage the owner to bring the property back into use, or sell to either the housing association or on the open market.

The Dunphail Drive property could be sold without the need for a compulsory purchase order (CPO) as the owner has “advised that they would consider selling the flat” to LPHA. However, if a deal is not reached, the council is planning a CPO because the flat has been empty since July 2009. Officials have said several attempts have been made to encourage the owner to bring it back into use.

Once any CPOs are complete, the properties would be transferred from the council to the housing association. Funding for the acquisitions would be made available through the Scottish Government–funded affordable housing supply programme. Owners will be given the opportunity to sell on a voluntary basis before a CPO is confirmed. They are able to seek compensation for the loss of their property.

Last month, councillors agreed to pursue CPOs for three flats in the Ibrox and Cessnock area after the landlord had been struck off by licensing chiefs. Those homes would be handed over to Elderpark Housing Association which owns other flats in the two buildings on Harley Street.

Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for neighbourhood services and assets, said the decision showed “our determination to use the powers at our disposal to bring new homes to the city”.