My house is worthless because of RAAC concrete

Building safety and local government finance are the responsibility of the Scottish government.

However, Housing Minister Paul McLennan told the BBC he wanted the UK government to step in with support.

He said that without this it was “hard to say” what his government could offer.

A UK government spokesperson said the issue was the responsibility of the Scottish government, which was getting a record financial settlement.

The SNP MP for Livingston, Hannah Bardell, said that, given its historical nature, the UK government should provide a legacy fund for homeowners.

“These houses were built before devolution, before the Scottish Parliament existed,” she said.

“The extent of the problem is a lot bigger than we currently understand.”

Peter Drummond, the chair of practice for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, said RAAC was commonly understood in the UK to have a design life of no more than 30 years and concerns about defects first arose in the 1980s.

“In Scotland, RAAC is primarily found in educational and healthcare properties,” he said.

“It is, however, becoming increasingly clear that housing – both publicly and privately owned – has been affected.

“The owners of these private houses find themselves facing very significant repair bills and are likely to find themselves unable to secure lending against the property because of the defect.

“They are therefore in an iniquitous position through no fault of their own.”