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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Holly Lennon

Govanhill flats evacuated over safety fears still standing eight years later amid legal 'stalemate'

The owners of a boarded-up Govanhill tenement that has been under threat of demolition for eight years say they are 'hitting a brick wall' when it comes to saving the building.

Glasgow City Council served the owners of 37 Annette Street with a dangerous building notice after a supporting wall was found to be collapsing in early 2016 and evacuated all those living inside.

The eight-flat block still remains standing several years later due to a 'stalemate' situation between owners, the building's factor - Cumming, Turner & Watt Property Management - and insurers Covea.

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The council is now anxiously awaiting updates from the three parties following concerns that the building has deteriorated even further due to the lack of use and maintenance.

Raz Parnez is one of the owners who has still been making mortgage payments for his property, as well as paying factors fees and legal fees.

He told Glasgow Live that the owners have faced silence from insurers leaving them 'depressed and upset'.

He explained: "We're not really any further forward than we were eight years ago when the evacuation happened. We don't know what's going on.

"People have lost their homes, lost their mortgages - it's depressing and really upsetting. For some owners, it's their source of income as a rental investment so that's been completely lost. On top of that, we're paying all the legal bills.

"We're just absolutely fed up. We keep forking money out for bills and nothing happens. We still have to pay our mortgages and our factors fees. We share a title with other flats around the corner so we're paying for repairs on their building too.

"The factoring company has just taken a step back from the situation. We feel like we're just being ignored.

"People have owned these homes for a number of years, some as far back as the 1980s and 1990's so they're just desperate to get back into them."

The rear of the property has been stabilised (Contributed)

It's understood that Covea did pay for stabilisation works to be undertaken on the building to allow their experts to assess the damage and decide on the next steps.

However, the owners are yet to be told what the conclusions of the report were with their calls for a meeting on the site falling on deaf ears.

As well as the eight owners of the flats that have been evacuated, a further nine are affected by the stalemate and are unsure about the future of their homes.

Raz added: "If the building gets demolished it will be a big loss, not just to us but to the whole community. People are worried about the impact it will have as other homes will have to be evacuated too but they're also worried about the state it's standing in at the moment.

"We were told to evacuate as the building was unsafe but it's eight years later and it hasn't come down yet.

"It's for situations like this that you take out insurance - you expect that they would be dealing with if something ever happens.

"The situation could be resolved if the insurers confirm that the building could be made safe and reinstated. The other option is them paying out what the building would be worth today and covering our losses and damages then we could all move on."

Fellow owner Jas explained: "We have been in discussions about the future of the building for years. Nicola Sturgeon had promised that she would get it resolved but it never happened.

The building on Annette Street has been empty for over seven years (Contributed)

"We have a stalemate situation and no one is doing anything. We're now going to the Scottish Housing Minister and other MSPs in the hopes of reaching a resolution.

"We believe the building was insured by the factors. We estimate that it will cost one or two million pounds to fix but no one wants to take ownership.

"We want it to be saved, we're losing out at the moment because the building is just sitting decaying.

"The insurers haven't given us access to their engineer report so we don't know the condition of the building and what work needs to be done. In the meantime, it's totally deteriorating.

"It's affecting other buildings as well as we're all under the same roof."

Glasgow City Council said they have "serious concerns" about delays to the action being taken on the building.

A spokesperson added: "We are still in attempted discussions with the legal representatives of the owners and insurers on their plans for the building.

"Following the completion of some downtaking and temporary shoring works earlier last year, the parties have not been forthcoming on their plans for the building nor the issues for the delays in making any decision.

"The council has written to them on a number of occasions expressing our serious concerns about the delay. We have also drawn their attention to the continued deterioration of the fabric of the remainder of the building which is suffering through lack of use and no maintenance being undertaken by any party.”

Insurer Covea said they were "hopeful" that they would be able to let owners know more information on the next steps at the end of June.

They described the situation as a "complex matter to investigate" due to the number of parties involved but said they are working to conclude the matter as soon as possible.

Robert Watt, of Cumming, Turner & Watt Property Management, said: "I can confirm that this matter is currently with Covea Insurance and I am waiting on a response from them.

"I will contact all owners once I hear from Covea."

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