Once they were a common sight next to almost every school, but now jannies’ houses are quickly becoming rare in Inverness.
Highland Council records from 2009 show the authority owned 25 properties in the city originally for the specific purpose of providing accommodation for school janitors.
Now there are just four left – including one awaiting demolition.
It means there are only three with existing tenants still working as school janitors.
What happened to all the janitor houses?
In recent years 10 properties that previously housed jannies have been transferred to the general housing stock.
Six properties were converted and are no longer used as houses.
Three others were sold and another two more were demolished.
These houses are listed within associated school group (ASG) clusters (covering primary and secondary schools) in these locations –
Inverness Royal ASG (seven houses), Inverness High ASG (three) Charleston ASG (five), Millburn Academy (three) and Culloden ASG (three).
The areas that still have houses still tenanted by janitors are Millburn, Inverness High and Culloden ASG.
The vacant property to be demolished is in Cradlehall, in the Culloden ASG.
‘School janny was priceless’
Inverness Provost Councillor Glynis Campbell Sinclair chairs the council’s housing and property committee.
She said it is positive that some buildings have gone into the housing stock as the region faces a major housing challenge.
But she says having dedicated on-site jannies for every school is something that is missed now.
“My personal view is that I’m disappointed in the way this has evolved.
“I’m disappointed we don’t have jannies any more. The school janny was priceless and what they did was priceless.
“They used to run the school cleaners, they changed the lightbulbs and kept the schools safe.
“They did all these things and they were an integral part of the school community.
“I don’t think we’ll ever go back to that and I think that’s a bit of a loss.”
City has also lost all but one of its police houses
In a similar sign of the times, we reported last year on the loss of police houses in Inverness.
As recently as 2007, there were 13 police houses in the city.
But now there is just one Police Scotland-owned property left in the Highland capital.
The solitary remaining house is in Cradlehall, but that has been approved for disposal.
The force says this is because there are enough private homes to rent or buy in the city.
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