Demolition of Aberdeen Raac homes set to go ahead

More than 500 properties in Aberdeen were found to contain Raac

Aberdeen City Council is set to push ahead with its plan to demolish dozens of homes found to have potentially dangerous concrete.

It had paused its proposal to knock down the majority of about 500 homes in the Balnagask area to allow residents to explore options for the future of their homes.

One option, which involves replacing roofs, has had no uptake.

Thirty-one people have accepted offers to buy their privately-owned homes, while others are still considering their valuations.

Most of the affected properties are council-owned.

Aberdeen City Council said its main focus was on re-homing people.

A new Aberdeen City Council report said out of the 138 private owners - 28 had not yet engaged with the local authority.

It said 76 people had asked for a valuation of their home and 70 had received offers, with two rejections so far.

The report said 34 residents were still considering the offer they had received, or have the option of swapping their home for a council property.

The purchasing process, known as a voluntary acquisition, could be extended to January next year due to the level of interest.

Councillors meeting next Tuesday will be asked to agree to the resumption of planning and preparation for demolition.

John Meiklejohn said he is not engaging with Aberdeen City Council

One resident John Meiklejohn told BBC Scotland News he was not considering voluntary acquisition.

He described the value he had received for his property as "unfair", and is considering potential legal action against the council.

Mr Meiklejohn said: "The value they were giving was deducting the cost of replacing Raac in the properties."

He claimed some residents would be left thousands of pounds worse off if they accepted their offer.

Aberdeen City Council said: "Our focus remains on re-homing our few remaining tenants, and ensuring that homeowners are fully aware of the options offered by the council to support them to arrive at informed decisions about their individual situations."

The Scottish government said it was working closely with the local authority around an infrastructure funding proposal to support its Raac plans.

A spokesperson said: "The complexity of the proposal has required further information to be sought from Aberdeen City Council and we are now considering their detailed draft response.

"We fully understand the urgency of this matter and a decision on this will be taken as soon as possible."