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Deputation Speech to Angus Council on RAAC-Affected Homeowners
Delivered by Wilson Chowdhry – UK RAAC Campaign Group
Provost, councillors, and officers—thank you for the
opportunity to speak today.
We are here to represent not just the 25 council tenants in
Milton Street, Monifieth, affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated
Concrete—RAAC—but also the 49 private homeowners whose lives have been upended
by a crisis they neither caused nor could have foreseen.
For council tenants, we are simply seeking a clear assurance
that all costs associated with temporary relocation will be fully covered by
the Council, and that any remedial works will include restoration of their
homes to at least the same condition they were in prior to the intervention.
The council’s report opens with a focus on its own
properties. Yet, it is a grave injustice that the private homeowners—those
facing the real and immediate threats of bankruptcy and homelessness—are given
so little weight in this process. That must change.
Let me speak plainly.
The historical data cited from the BRE and the Institute of Structural
Engineers fails to account for key past demolitions: 400 homes in Basildon in
the 1990s, and 86 condemned properties in West Lothian in 2004. These events
were not minor anomalies—they were early warnings. And those same institutions
failed to reflect on or include these precedents in their guidance. This
omission renders their advice incomplete and inappropriate for addressing RAAC
in ex-council or low-cost housing built in the same era.
The report recommends Option 4: full removal of RAAC and
installation of timber flat roofs. Homeowners overwhelmingly support this from
a safety standpoint. But it’s simply unaffordable for the majority.
These homes were sold under the Government’s Right to Buy
scheme—bought by people who trusted that they were acquiring safe, habitable
homes. Many are elderly. They cannot return to work. They cannot access loans.
They lack the savings. These properties are in areas highlighted in the
Scottish Indices of Deprivation—they were affordable homes, and now,
they are unaffordable liabilities.
Angus Council may not have built all of these homes, but
today, they lie within your authority. Homeowners pay their council tax here.
They engage with your services. That creates both a duty of care and a moral
responsibility.
To the Council’s credit, your officers and councillors have
engaged with residents more constructively than many other local authorities in
Scotland. But residents are dismayed that you have yet to accept any
responsibility or offer financial support.
The Scheme of Assistance exists for precisely this
kind of crisis. You can create a shared equity model. You can use
discretionary grants. You can offer sundry debt recovery loans. I am
currently working with Clackmannanshire Council on precisely such a model.
There is no legal or policy barrier to you doing the same—only political will.
Moreover, your delay is striking. It has been over a year
since RAAC was first identified here, yet progress lags behind every other
Scottish council. I urge you to fast-track any feasibility work and to issue accurate
contractor quotes rather than desk-based estimates, which—as seen
elsewhere—often reduce projected costs by up to 50%.
Additionally, while the council is only now planning to
begin engagement with private owners, many homeowners have already confirmed
their desire to pursue the timber roof replacement. But they need financial
help. A sound plan without financial aid is not a solution—it’s a sentence.
The shared nature of these roofs further underscores the
need for unified action. If even one homeowner cannot afford to participate,
you risk halting progress for all. This makes it not just a personal but a communal
crisis.
And it doesn’t end with Milton Street. There are homeowners
in Angus—outside former council stock—who are also discovering RAAC in their
homes. One such family in Auchterhouse purchased their house in good faith last
year. It had no known council history. Their structural engineer confirmed that
the RAAC flooring is now unsafe, beyond its lifespan. Their Home Report surveyor
failed to identify it. Their legal claim is unlikely to succeed. They face
enormous personal cost with no fault of their own.
So I ask you:
What is being done to identify other RAAC-affected
properties in Angus?
What support can be extended to these families,
especially those in properties never built by the council but nonetheless
trapped in the same nightmare?
Let me end with specific, practical actions this
Council can and must take:
Proposed Actions for Angus Council:
- Expand
the scope of RAAC remediation planning to include the 49 private
homeowners in Milton Street and any others identified through further
investigation.
- Seek
immediate funding from the Scottish and UK Governments—champion the
creation of a national fund that removes all homeowner costs for RAAC
remediation.
- Use
the Scheme of Assistance to offer grants, missed share options, or
sundry debt recovery loans for private owners—especially those on low
incomes or in shared roofs.
- Release
costings for proposed works to the public to ensure transparency,
allow informed resident decisions, and build community trust.
- Provide
clear written timelines to all affected residents—council tenants and
private owners alike—and maintain open communication channels.
- Hold
a follow-up public meeting with all Milton Street residents before any
final decision is taken.
- Investigate
RAAC in other Angus homes, especially properties built privately in
the 1950s–80s, and consider what support could be provided to homeowners
caught unaware.
I urge councillors to remember that behind every affected
property is a real person or family caught in the midst of a financial and
emotional storm. These homeowners are not statistics—they are parents,
pensioners, and working people, many of whom are deeply distressed about their
future. They are placing their hope in Angus Council to show fairness,
compassion, and leadership by delivering a just and workable solution.
This is your moment to lead—to protect not only your
tenants but all residents who call Angus home. You have the power, the
legal tools, and—if you choose—the compassion, to act justly.
Please do not leave these families behind.
Thank you.
