Housing minister meets Raac campaigners in Dundee as key theme emerges
The housing minister has met with campaigners and the local authority in Dundee to discuss the Raac crisis affecting in the city.
Paul McLennan sat down with Yvette and Wayne Hoskins on Monday afternoon to discuss a range of concerns, including communication issues between residents and Dundee City Council.
Speaking to The Courier afterwards, Mr McLennan said: 'I met with the council earlier on today as well and asked them some questions about their approach.
'And I've spoken to Wayne and Yvette in more detail.
'There's some things that we've taken away, one of them is about communication both for council tenants and for private residents.'
The housing minister believes local authorities should be taking the lead on informing residents about Raac-related issues and said learnings could be made.
'I think the key thing is communication between council and the Raac community – whether it's either residents or council tenants,' said Mr McLennan.
'The situation in Aberdeen is different to Dundee and is different to other parts, so the lead on this should be local authorities.
'One of the other things we talked about today was learning from other local authorities.
'In terms of Aberdeen, its communication has been different from Dundee, it's been different from North Lanarkshire and other parts of Scotland.
'So we look at best practice as well in terms of communication.'
When asked outright if Dundee City Council had to improve on their communication, Mr McLennan said: 'I think they're just different approaches.
'It's an unsettling time for residents and council tenants and I think one of the key things is knowing what they need to know.'
Earlier this week, Raac residents in Menzieshill were furious after being told to expect a repair bill by council for work on their flats which began without consultation.
Mortgages and insurance concerns were the other key messages raised by the campaigners.
The housing minister said the Scottish Government were continuing to ask Westminster to set up a UK Raac fund.
However, he admitted that currently the UK Government was saying no.
Mr McLennan pointed to Raac now being found in Wales and other previous instances where it was found in England.
'We believe it's a UK Raac issue and we've asked the UK Government to set up a Raac fund.
'They've said no at this stage, but we've went back to them.'
The Courier is asking people to sign a petition to help homeowners gain a voice at Westminster.
Dundee Raac campaign chairman, Wayne Hoskins, said it had been a good meeting with the minister.
He told The Courier: 'We want answers for homeowners and tenants.
'We want answers on mortgages, we can't get mortgages on our property.
'How do we restore these to market value? We're losing £30k-40k on these properties.'
The housing minister said he would return to Dundee for a public meeting on the issue.
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