Safe as houses? Reprieve for Lorne Street tenants – for now

Tenants still don’t know who their new landlord will be

The eviction of hundreds of residents from Leith flats has been put on hold. But while Lorne Street tenants can breathe a sigh of relief for now, The Agnes Hunter Trust, which owns the flats, still plans to get rid of the properties and tenants are still in the dark as to who their new landlord will be.

The Agnes Hunter Trust, a local charity which distributes financial aid to health and social welfare charities, announced their plans to sell more than seventy flats on Lorne Street last year.

The charity said last year that the cost of maintaining the Lorne Street properties was diverting funds away from those it was set up to help, and served eviction notice on tenants – many of whom had lived in their homes for generations.

Residents formed the Lorne Community Association to fight against the plans and campaign for the properties to be taken over by a housing association.

A solution appeared to have been reached when Port of Leith Housing Association stepped in, but these negotiations subsequently fell through when Agnes Hunter trustees rejected Port of Leith’s offer to take over the Lorne Street properties.

Lorne Street tenants learned earlier this week that their landlord will ‘not be issuing any further no-fault notices to quit’ but the Agnes Hunter trustees said they ‘remain open to considering other options such as an approach by another housing association, registered social landlord or by a tenants’ co-operative’.

The move secures the future of residents of 59 properties which are let on short-term tenancies.

Walter Thomson, chairman of the board of trustees, said: “Our original decision to sell the properties was taken to safeguard the ability of the trust to maintain its ability to make grants to charities in line with the purposes outlined by Miss Agnes Hunter when she set up the trust in 1954.

“Unfortunately, a bid from the Port of Leith Housing Association provided impossible to conclude a deal which would have worked for both parties.

“However, while we continue to seek to sell the property portfolio, the trustees have decided not to issue any further notices to quit to individual sitting short-assured tenants”.

Melanie Weigang, secretary of Lorne Community Association, said she was ‘relieved’ by the Trust’s decision.

Ms Weigang said: “It has been a very worrying time for tenants – people admitted to hospital with shock when we were told our homes were to be sold. There were people born in these homes – the community is deeply rooted in the Agnes Hunter Trust. Its not just rented accommodation for the residents – this is their homes.”

The anxiety isn’t quite over yet, however. She added: “It’s disappointing that the Trust can’t come to an agreement with Port of Leith but we are happy that they have decided not to issue the notices. That’s an absolute relief, it’s definitely a move in the right direction. We certainly hope that there will be another agreement with a housing association. We are still hoping for a long-term solution”.

Politicians of all parties supported the Lorne tenants, and they have given news of the reprieve a qualified welcome.

Green housing spokesperson Cllr Steve Burgess said: “While I am pleased that the Trust has removed the threat of en masse evictions, they should never have been threatened in the first place. In the last nine months the Trust has undermined faith in its capacity to be a landlord and caused huge anxiety for its tenants.

“And it begs the question of what next? Tenants are no clearer as to why a potential bid from Port of Leith Housing Association has not been acceptable to the Trust. Nor is it clear what the prospect is for other housing associations to take over as landlord.

“All in all, this sorry episode has shown the Trust to be incapable of managing and maintaining its properties properly. So going back to square one, as is suggested, hardly seems like a good outcome.”