The Port of Leith Housing Association is in discussion to buy 86 flats in Edinburgh from the Miss Agnes Hunter Trust
Hundreds of tenants in Edinburgh may be saved from eviction after a housing association announced it is in talks to buy their properties from the charitable trust which owns them.
Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) says it is negotiating the acquisition of 86 flats owned by the Miss Agnes Hunter Trust on Lorne Street, Leith.
The trust had announced plans in October to sell its properties on the street, much to the alarm of some 200 residents who feared being thrown out of their homes.
The association is very pleased to be working with the trust and with the Lorne Community Association to investigate a solution to retaining these homes for affordable rent in the long term
Residents, some of whom have lived in their homes for decades, reacted angrily and set up the Lorne Community Association in a bid to highlight their cause and a moratorium on the evictions was extended until July 2016.
PoLHA, which specialises in affordable homes for rent, has revealed it will be undertaking a detailed condition survey of the properties over the next two to three months ahead of negotiations over a potential sale of the flats.
Keith Anderson, chief executive of PoLHA, said: “As the main provider of affordable housing in Leith, the association is very pleased to be working with the trust and with the Lorne Community Association to investigate a solution to retaining these homes for affordable rent in the long term.”
Commenting on the announcement, Walter Thomson, chairman of the board of trustees of the Miss Agnes Hunter Trust, said: “The trustees are acutely aware that it is real people and families that will affected by any decision and look forward to working with PoLHA with a view to finding a possible solution that could satisfy all parties involved.”
The board of trustees took the unanimous decision in January 2015 to sell the property portfolio in a rolling programme over the next three to four years citing the costs of managing and maintaining the property portfolio had risen to £424,450.
The trust’s charitable purpose is to make financial grants to registered charities which support people suffering from arthritis and cancer, physical disability and mental health problems or learning disabilities, or which provide youth education and training.
It currently grants around £350,000 each year but its board also added the number of applications for grants has been increasing particularly from charities whose statutory funding has been withdrawn or reduced.
Councillor Cammy Day, vice-convenor of City of Edinburgh Council’s health, social care and housing committee, added: “I’m really pleased to see the Agnes Hunter Trust working with Port of Leith Housing Association to negotiate a potential buy out of the remaining properties, and allowing tenants to remain in their homes and in their community.
“The efforts of the tenants in working with the council, trustees and sousing associations is to be commended. In addition to this we will continue to support the option of a local co-operative with tenants.”
