Thursday December 4th 2025
Inchmickery Court in Muirhouse, Edinburgh
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
Councillors have signed off on plans to demolish two Edinburgh tower blocks after costs for proposed renovation works spiralled.
The go-ahead was given at Tuesday’s housing committee meeting, with the plans to demolish Oxcars Court and Inchmickery Court in Muirhouse first announced in September.
Housing convener and Labour councillor Tim Pogson said: “It seems that this is work that is quite well advanced in any event, in terms of the decant strategies and the progress on those.
“There has been now a significant change of strategy due to the market and the commissioning responses that have been received.
“It seems to be a pretty well supported proposal in general by most groups, who are content to see this progress.”
If they had been able to go ahead, the renovation works would have aimed to fight damp, mould and other issues that plague the two twelve-storey blocks.
But upon seeking contractors to carry out the required works, council officers learned that remediating the problems with the buildings would cost more than building new ones.
All of the flats in both blocks are owned by the council, meaning it does not have to negotiate with other partners to secure permission to demolish the buildings.
Residents of Oxcars Court told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in September that they did not feel they had any agency over what was set to happen to them or their homes.
And, they said that the council had not communicated about the planned renovation works well.
Tenants in Inchmickery Court began to be decanted in January of this year in anticipation of the works – though one remains inside.
Tuesday’s housing meeting heard from a city officer that the lone tenant was not engaging with communications from the council.
In Oxcars Court, most of the units are still occupied, with a handful out of use due to maintenance issues.
A decant of the tenants there will start early next year, in advance of the demolition of both buildings.
The council proposes to replace the two buildings with at least 150 units of social housing, but it has floated proposals for an even larger project on the site.
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