Kilsyth flats will be demolished after blaze

In May the building in Rennie Road caught fire requiring residents to be evacuated. Now councillors have voted to relocate the tenants and demolish the tower block.

With the cost of repairs believed to be in excess of £200,000, along with the number of empty flats in the block, it was considered more efficient to rehome the occupants. There are eight households with six currently in decant accommodation.

The fire caused substantial damage to the building, but thankfully no one was injured.

At the time one resident said: “The emergency services response was fantastic. They were on the scene in minutes and had they not been, who knows what would have happened.

“The fire was so fierce it was threatening to spread to the neighbouring buildings, but thankfully that was prevented from happening.”

The block has two closes, numbers 2-12 and 14-22. Residents of the latter close were given emergency accommodation and later decanted. as were residents in flats 2, 6 and 10.

A council report states the area is not experiencing high levels of housing demand.

It says: “There is very limited demand for the flats in Rennie Road which, coupled with a very high turnover, identifies them as difficult to let.

“There are constant repair issues over condensation with problems in the common stairwells and areas around the blocks because of the severe gradient in this part of Kilsyth.”

The council will make homelessness and disturbance payments totalling around £16,000 to the residents who need to be relocated due to the demolition.