Monday March 28th 2022
Empty garage lock-ups could be turned into affordable housing under new plans to tackle sites, which have become targets for fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour.
A third of Midlothian Council-owned lock-ups are currently empty with one in five garage sites also unused.
A report to councillors this week calls for a dedicated team to be introduced to look at ways to reuse some of the sites.
It reveals the cost of leasing a lock-up which can cost a council tenant more than £700 a year and non-tenants nearly £1000 has become a “disincentive” for some.
And it says despite having 223 empty lock-ups available there are no current applications for one.
As well as having 675 lock-ups across the county, the local authority holds 334 garage sites which are cheaper to rent at just £52 a year but where the leaseholder would have to erect their own garage.
Currently 70 of the sites are empty with no outstanding applications to take one on.
The report to councillors says: “Council owned lock-up garages and sites vary from standalone blocks of garages in large plots, to small isolated
buildings on small sections of land.
“The garage lock-ups have been subject to very limited investment in recent years meaning the overall portfolio requires a significant level of investment to maintain and improve the assets. There is currently no planned maintenance programme for garage sites and lock-up sites.”
It proposes a team be established to look at options for the unused lock-ups and sites ranging from turning them into affordable housing, to creating green spaces for residents.
And it points to areas which have been re-purposed as housing in the past including Crichton Avenue, Pathhead and Castlelaw Terrace, Bilston, where 20 new affordable homes were built.
It adds: “It is also proposed to include garage lock-ups at Stone Place, Mayfield and Oak Place, Mayfield into the council’s affordable housing programme due to lack of demand, vandalism and public safety concerns at those locations.”
The report calls for a review of the council’s garage stock, asking councillors to approve “a dedicated staff resource deployed to revise work previously undertaken to review and identify potential opportunities to re-purpose those garage lock-ups and sites where there is currently low demand and occupancy rates.”
It adds: “A recent review of the garage sites and lock-up data has identified a number of sites where it is considered re-use or demolition is the most appropriate course of action.
“This has been determined based on the locality of the sites, current condition of the garage assets, repeated issues with anti-social behaviour, fly tipping and management of the lock-ups and sites.”
Councillors will be asked to approve the plans at a virtual meeting tomorrow.
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