A sandstone villa which is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the West End of Glasgow is in danger of collapse, according to local residents.
It is feared that the property, at number 10 Great George Street in Hillhead, has become so derelict that it may only be a matter of months before it has to be demolished.
The “B” listed villa which dates from 1852, was bought for use as a Hindu temple in 1971 but has been unoccupied for more than 20 years.
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A neighbour (who asked not to be named) in an adjacent block of flats, at number 6 Great George Street, said that when she and her partner bought their property in 2016, they had their concerns about the poor condition of the villa but had been told by the estate agent that it was being converted into flats.
She said: “Since then, no work has been done on the property and it has now deteriorated to such an extent that only last month (February), half of the roof collapsed into the building.
“We regularly contact Glasgow City Council about the problem but they seem unable to do anything about it.”
She added: “We don’t know who the owners are but the security fencing they have around the property is also in a shocking state and doesn’t prevent pupils from the local high school playing in the building and homeless people using it as a shelter.
“I’m now concerned that, with the whole building at risk of collapse, lives might also be in danger.”
Local resident, Jim O’Neill who lives across the street from the derelict villa, said he had also contacted Glasgow City Council about the state of the building but they seemed “powerless” to force the owners to carry out repair work. He called the situation “a disgrace”.
Mark Wilson, chair of the local community association, BARTA said that, since 2018, the deteriorating condition of the villa had regularly come up for discussion at their monthly meetings.
He said that local councillor, Martha Wardrop had been in touch with council officials in February regarding the recent collapse of the roof and had been told that the owners of the property would be contacted and advised to have a structural engineer carry out an inspection of the building.
Mr. Wilson said: “As a community association, it appears the only current course of action open to us is to repeatedly flag the villa up to the council as a “Building at Risk” which we have been doing. Members have also emailed the council to let them know that stonework is starting to fall from the facade, windows are smashed and vegetation is growing out of the building structures.”
One BARTA member said that the building had become so derelict, it might be too late to save it from collapse.
Documents available on Glasgow City Council’s website show that, since 2007, the owners of the villa have applied for planning permission for a number of development projects for the historic building including self-contained flats, a hostel and a “boutique hotel” none of which have come to anything. Planning permission was subject to strict - and costly - conditions necessary to “safeguard the character of the listed building and the character of the surrounding conservation area”.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "The council’s Building Standards team has visited this property - the roof has collapsed inwards into the building. The building has a secure perimeter heras fence surrounding the building along the external garden perimeter, and this prevents any unauthorised access in the garden grounds.
"The Building Standards team has written to the owners of the building, and their representative has confirmed that they would instruct a structural engineer to visit the property.
"Please note that the responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of any property lies with its owners."
