It was the 1960’s. The Livingston Development Corporation are proudly housing tenants in the first homes of the shiny new town of Livingston. It was dubbed “the town of tomorrow”.
Some of these tenants move into an area of town called Deans South. 240 homes. 240 families.
They like their new homes. They have gardens and stairs inside! And the community around them seems to be going well. Whilst the new tenants and their families are experiencing all of the teething pains the New Towns Act caused up and down the country, they quite like it here. The children have space to play and the houses seem quite roomy, and the neighbours seem nice.
The late 1970’s roll around. Margaret Thatcher’s government passes the Housing Act 1980, and makes the Right To Buy scheme a part of Conservative National Policy. This means tenants in council houses can buy their homes for anywhere between 33%-50% discount. The tenants of that quiet corner of Livingston get excited – they like their homes a lot. They like their homes enough to buy them, make it theirs, be homeowners, leave behind an inheritance for their children.
And buy the homes they did.
Everything was great. The area became a mixture of homeowners and tenants, families, young and old. Exactly the Right To Buy scheme dream that the Thatcher government had hope for.
Until in 2004, when the homeowners got a letter telling them their houses had been condemned, and were going to be demolished.
Someone had realised that a type of aerated concrete, called Siporex, had been used in the roofs of the houses. This is considered unsafe and unsuitable for carrying heavy loads. Immediately, the council tenants were moved out of the estate and rehoused. The demolition began.
But what about the people who weren’t tenants, the people who bought their homes? Well, there was about 80 families who owned their homes. Many took the buyout option the local authority offered, but lost a lot of money and no longer own a home. Around 10 families are still there. One couple has lived on the estate for nearly 60 years – they brought their family up there.
They’re fighting a hard battle. All around them are boarded up, condemned houses. They no longer have neighbours. Their houses are cold and damp, because they’re sandwiched between empty properties.
The first attempt at a Compulsory Purchase Order came in 2011, seemingly under the 1947 Land Act, meaning they weren’t buying the condemned houses but rather the land that the houses were built on. This would mean that the homeowners had to sell up, they weren’t getting a choice. Despite the value of their homes being around £105,000 15 years ago, the local authority was offering the families just £30,000 (approximately) for their homes. This wouldn’t let them buy a new place to stay – and is nothing in comparison to the amount they paid for their property when they bought it from the council under the Right To Buy scheme.
This 2011 attempt at a Compulsory Purchase Order was defeated by a public enquiry – the only time this has ever happened.
16 long years of an attempt at a fair deal being made for these homeowners has lead to near stalemate – and the homeowners were forced to spend the COVID-19 lockdown on the near derelict estate. Still, at least they got some peace – the lockdown stopped the demolition of the houses around them.
The homeowners are asking for “a home for a home”, which seems only fair. The council are refusing to budge. A private housing development company called Springfield have put a deal on the table, but the talks are moving at a glacial pace. None of the families want to spend another winter on the estate, but it now looks inevitable. Some of them are pensioners.
This is all happening a 20 minute walk across town from where I was brought up.
The homeowners have their own Facebook campaign page that they run themselves, which tells the story from their perspective. It’s A Fair Deal For Homeowners In Deans South.
News coverage of the Deans South Homeowners:
West Lothian Ghost Town Once Dubbed “Town of Tomorrow”
Real Life Up! Couple Refuse To Leave Housing Estate Facing Demolition for 15 Years
