Thursday January 8th 2026
The Katherine Street, Craigshill, flat after the fire that broke out on a January night in 2022.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
A Livingston block of flats badly damaged in a fire has now welcomed tenants from West Lothian’s housing waiting list after a major upgrade which includes new heating systems for each home.
A meeting of the East Livingston and East Calder Local Area Committee heard that the refurbished block, in Katherine Street, Craigshill, had provided a new home to 22 people on the local housing list.
Jonathan Bertram, Housing manager at Almond Housing Association, said the re-let of the properties represented a ”milestone” in co-operation with West Lothian Council.
Fire ripped through a ground floor flat in the block in January 2022. The blaze saw residents evacuated, with one person treated for smoke inhalation. Many families were displaced and left with “nothing but the clothes on their backs”.
The fire required around 50 fire-fighters and 15 appliances to tackle the blaze.
West Lothian Council and local community groups, including Livingston FC and The Tower bar, provided extensive support and collected donations.
Mr Bertram told a meeting of the local area committee: “1,372 days after the fire that left 25 households homeless the association welcomed back three existing residents and a further 22 households from the West Lothian Housing register which included eight homeless applicants.”
The refurbished building, owned by Almond Housing Association has seen improved insulation and new heating systems which should cut costs for tenants.
Mr Bertram said: “This milestone represents a huge collective effort from our operational teams with the association to manage the processes well as a huge amount of collaboration through West Lothian Council through the process who assisted us by providing temporary decant accommodation throughout the period.
“The refurbishment has delivered substantial improvement to the building including insulation of new external wall rendering significantly enhancing the sustainability of the building fabric .
“In a move towards sustainable heating solutions the previous gas boiler system has been replaced with individual air source heating for each flat providing modern efficient heating and hot water.
“These upgrades are expected to build tangible upgrades for residents through reduced energy costs while contributing to Scotland’s net-zero targets. The project has been made possible through grant funding through the Scottish Housing Net-Zero Fund which supported the energy efficiency improvements.”
Tweet Share on Facebook
