Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray Council urged to end Raac concrete uncertainty for residents

The local authority is awaiting a report from a structural engineer that has inspected homes.

Looking across Elgin rooftops.
Moray Council has stressed it has found "no evidence" of Raac concrete so far. Image: DC Thomson

More urgency has been demanded to end uncertainty for Moray residents living in council homes made from potentially dangerous Raac concrete.

The local authority confirmed nearly two months ago targeted inspections would take place at a “small number” of its properties.

Checks have now taken place, but it is still not known whether any work will need done on the homes.

It comes as Moray Council faces a £605,000 bill after Raac concrete was confirmed at Forres Academy.

Exterior view of Forres Academy.
Forres Academy is currently the only building in Moray where Raac concrete has been confirmed. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents in Aberdeen face being rehomed after the council there confirmed the building material had been used in construction.

Calls have been made to put an end to uncertainty for Moray families anxious they may also be forced to move.

Was Raac concrete used to build Moray Council homes?

Moray Council has stressed there is currently “no evidence” Raac concrete was used to build any of its homes.

However, a detailed search of its property records has left sufficient doubt for checks from a structural engineers to be ordered to “confirm assumptions”.

Raac concrete was commonly used in the construction industry between the 1950s and 1990s.

However, there are concerns it has a limited lifespan and can cause structural collapses in extreme cases if water gets through cracks.

Moray Liberal Democrats leader Neil Alexander on Plainstones in Elgin town centre.
Neil Alexander, leader of the Moray Liberal Democrats.

Neil Alexander, Moray Liberal Democrats leader, has called for more urgency to end the anxiety for residents.

He said: “Months after promising safety inspections in homes, we are no further forward to dealing with this.

“I’m really worried to see families evicted in Aberdeen where dangerous concrete was found – yet we still have no idea of the scale of the problem here in Moray.”

Mr Alexander has called for more funding from the Scottish Government to help councils cope with the extra costs of Raac concrete in homes and schools.

He added: “This is about the safety of families in their homes, and children in their schools. It could not be more important.”

Raac report awaited from engineers

Moray Council currently has 6,342 homes in its stock across the region, many of which were built after Raac concrete stopped being used.

The local authority says only a “small number” remain subject to investigations from physical inspections to check for the material.

A spokeswoman said: “A detailed analysis of property records has been undertaken and whilst there is no evidence of Raac being present in any council houses, a small number of properties have been assessed by a structural engineer based on their non-traditional construction type in order to confirm the assumptions from the desktop phase.

“We expect their report imminently, which will highlight if there are any issues for further action.”

For more Elgin news and updates, join our local Facebook group.

Conversation