Two Edinburgh multi-storey council housing blocks are being considered for demolition after costs for a planned refit have increased dramatically, according to city officers.
According to a report to be noted by councillors next week, refurbishing the Oxcars Court and Inchmickery Court blocks in Muirhouse no longer provides ‘value for money’.
Councillors will make a decision on what to do about the two 75-flat blocks at a meeting of the city’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee in December.
Officers have drafted other options, including more limited repairs, for how to proceed with the two buildings.
At a meeting of the same committee next week, councillors will be asked to note the report, which says the cost of refitting the blocks have spiralled.
Initially, works to refit the blocks were costed at £51.4 million, but have increased to £86m as complications with the unique design of the buildings became apparent.
Some 50 tenants in Inchmickery Court have already been decanted in advance of works starting, with one tenant still in place – while 24 flats are empty.
Plans had been underway to start the decant of the 68 tenants in Oxcars Court for the works, but officers are now considering moving them early next year to reduce upkeep costs.
Refit works would have looked to keep damp out of the buildings and improve heat retention, while also repairing issues with mechanical, electrical and plumbing services inside.
At a press briefing, a council officer said the issues being faced with the two blocks were unique, and not widespread across the council’s multi-storey block estate.
The briefing also detailed that residents had been sent letters explaining that the council was considering demolition as an option for the future of the blocks.
It is understood that letters were hand-delivered to some tenants in Oxcars Court, and that postal letters to decanted tenants from Inchmickery Court had been sent in the past few days.
In the report, officers give several possible options for what to do next with the identical ten-storey blocks.
They say a scaled back retrofit proposal could cost £57m, while limiting works to essential repairs would cost £13.6m.
Meanwhile, demolishing the two blocks and replacing them with new six-storey buildings could provide 150 flats at a cost of £48m.
The report details how the unique design of some aspects of the building requires specialist sub-contractors to carry out repairs and works.
Officers described how, for many parts of the project, only one contractor bid, leading to what was described as a ‘very uncompetitive return’.
For a package covering steel framing, officers said that no contractors were willing to bid upon being passed detailed information about the works required.
Plans to refit the blocks began in earnest in August 2022, where a forecast total cost of £51m was identified.
Officers said that residents in the blocks had ‘bought in’ to the proposal to decant and renovate the blocks, which was raised to tenants in September 2023.
Tenants began to be decanted from Inchmickery Court in January 2025, and design work was substantially completed by February.
But in March, it became clear to council officers that the originally quoted price would be impossible to meet, and they began evaluating how to save costs.
And, in September, council officers began briefing ward and committee councillors on the situation with the blocks.
Information sessions are set to be hosted for tenants in both blocks.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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