Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 9:30am

Defective Crombie homes set to be flattened

Comments (6) | Print | Email

A £2.5 MILLION housing regeneration project in Crombie will get underway by the autumn, the Press can reveal.

Phase one of the renewal strategy of the 50 defective Unitroy homes - which were declared "statutorily defective" in 1987 - is expected to start as soon as September.

The homes were condemned because of the steel-framed design, with the cost of repairing each one estimated at £40,000 - or a total of £2million to replace.

Residents had been left with damp and draughty homes, with sky-high heating bills as a consequence.

A total of 20 homes will be demolished in the first phase, and the Scottish Government and Fife Council will fund the development of 18 new houses this financial year.

The project is being undertaken by the Fife Housing Association Alliance (FHAA), with Kingdom Housing Association (KHA) as lead developer and Fife Housing Association (FHA) taking over as landlords upon its completion.

Of the 50 homes, which are located in Central Road, Main Road and Farm Road, 33 are owned by FHA with the other 17 privately owned.

Decanting is already underway, and the Press understands all but two tenants have already moved, and that 12 of the 17 private properties have been bought back.

KHA development manager Scott Kirkpatrick said, "The key thing is that we've got programme approval from the Scottish Government.

"That means we are looking to go ahead with the rebuild project for phase one, this financial year, which will be before March 2011.

"FHA, who are the landlord, have been emptying the properties for phase one, so that they can take forward the demolition of the houses.

"We're hoping to be able to start that process towards the end of this calendar year in terms of demolition."

Mr Kirkpatrick said KHA planned to start the new-build development "very early in 2011".

He added, "The new houses will probably be built in two sub-phases, so that some people can move into their new houses more quickly and to allow more flexibility to make effective use of the overall development area."

Phase one will have a housing mix of two three-bedroom cottages for wheelchair users, four two-bedroom cottages, six two-bedroom houses, four three-bedroom houses and two four-bedroom houses.

The houses cost an average of £138,000 each, but Mr Kirkpatrick said, "A lot of the cost is going towards getting the ground prepared for level access from the front.

"These are relatively large houses and wheelchair access is relatively expensive as well.

"It's well above the average but it's important that FHA has an asset that has meaning on their accounts.

"It was never going to be a cheap development but we're keen not to have a compromise on the specifications."

The Press understands the overall development will take place in three phases, but Mr Kirkpatrick would only confirm that "further phases" were being considered.

He also said the Alliance hoped to build a total of 35 new homes in the coming years, but did not give a timescale.

He added, "Both the Scottish Government and Fife Council will be providing funding for this project, so we need to develop our proposals so that we have the costs confirmed at a level that we can demonstrate is good value for money."

Dunfermline West MSP Jim Tolson, who has pressed the Scottish Government for funding assurances for the regeneration, welcomed the news.

He added, "What I want to see is the first phase of the new houses completed to time and budget and that will help make sure we receive the funding required for the second and third phases in due course."

Crombie Community Council also looked forward to the development.

Chair Caroline Welch said, "This will bring an energy and vibrancy and also encourage our community spirit to bloom.

"We have a very active community council who are eagerly awaiting new families to the phase one. We will continue to work towards completion of phase two and three."