Parliament debate RAAC petition

Raac homeowners could be left with 'peanuts' Home owners in Aberdeen have complained they could be left with "peanuts" due to the discovery of potentially dangerous Raac concrete.

Law student Hannah Chowdhry, 20, bought her house in the Balnagask area of Torry last year, but only a few months later she was "devastated" to learn the concrete in the roof panels was unsafe.

She has since been advised by Aberdeen City Council that her house, alongside hundreds of others in the area, should be demolished.

Now, a petition calling for better financial support and government accountability, launched by Hannah and her dad Wilson, is being considered by the Scottish Parliament.

Hannah is one of thousands of people across Scotland whose homes are affected by Raac (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete), a less durable form of concrete which is susceptible to collapse.

She bought the four-bedroom house in June 2023 for £120,000.

It had originally been a council house which was built in 1965, although she purchased it from a private owner.

In November last year, Hannah was told that Raac been found in the roof of her new home, making it potentially structurally unsound and, without repair, illegal for resale.

It was one of an estimated 138 private properties and 366 council homes in the Balnagask area which were found to have Raac in the roof panels.

Aberdeen City Council has since announced plans to demolish the council homes affected "on safety grounds", with council tenants being offered first refusal on a replacement home matching their needs.

The council said they would also aim to buy private properties by voluntary agreement to allow demolition across the affected area, and said they would offer market value for the properties, alongside other legal, home-loss and disturbance payments.

'Insurmountable debts' But Wilson Chowdhry told BBC Scotland News the council only intends to offer residents the "post-Raac" market value of their homes.

Wilson, who founded the UK RAAC Campaign Group, said the council would also deduct the cost of repairing the roofs, which in Hannah's case comes to more than £70,000.

He said residents would be "left with peanuts" and "insurmountable debts" if the council did not offer them a better price, with many living in fear of bankruptcy and homelessness.

Raac has been identified in council areas across Scotland, including Dundee, West Lothian and Clackmannanshire, and is estimated to affect 2,445 homes owned by social landlords, according to a report by the Scottish Housing Regulator.

Council tenants are currently having their Raac repair costs covered.

But many people who have bought their council houses said they felt abandoned by the government, with some facing repairs costs into the tens of thousands.

The Chowdhrys' petition, which has more than 1,600 signatures, urges the Scottish government to provide better support for communities which have been affected by Raac, including private homeowners.

It calls on the Scottish government to:

Set up a national fund to assist homeowners and tenants affected by RAAC. Initiate a public inquiry investigating the practices of councils and housing associations concerning RAAC. Introduce new or updated legislation to ensure that developers, councils and housing associations are held accountable for using substandard property materials; mandate risk disclosure and make surveyors and solicitors liable for untraced defects. The petition also asks for a comprehensive register of high-risk buildings in Scotland.

MSPs will debate the petition in Holyrood from 09:30 on 13 November.