Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC): Housing Stakeholder minutes - 4 December 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Scottish Government (Chair)
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
• Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO)
• Almond Housing Association
• Angus Council
• Bield Housing and Care
• City of Edinburgh Council
• Clackmannanshire Council
• Dundee City Council
• Link Housing Association
• River Clyde Homes
• South Lanarkshire Council
• Viewpoint Housing Association
• West Lothian Council

Items and actions

Welcome, minutes and actions of the previous meeting

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting, including those joining for the first time, noting that the group was intended to provide a platform for landlords to discuss common issues concerning RAAC management and share best practice.

The note of the previous meeting was now online. With respect to items discussed at the previous session, the Chair noted that the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) had subsequently published updated information about their data collection exercise with 16 landlords now reporting a total of 2,445 RAAC affected properties (most of which were social housing but included some privately owned). Four landlords had yet to complete investigations. Attendees were invited to provide further detail about the breakdown of social and privately owned housing in their respective RSLs.

Action – RSLs to provide respective numbers regarding RAAC affected social and privately owned homes.

Action – SG officials to confirm the timeline for completion of the SHR data collection exercise. 

Guidance on RAAC in residential properties

The Chair noted that the issue of the provision of appropriate advice and guidance specifically for the housing sector had also been discussed at the August meeting and invited IStructE and RICS to set out proposals for taking this forward.

IStructE confirmed the intention to produce guidance in conjunction with RICS as well as their engagement with members in Scotland. In considering the issue of RAAC in domestic settings, IStructE noted that the condition of the RAAC varied as well as being of a different nature than RAAC found in other sectors, such as schools and hospitals. For example, the spans were shorter, the RAAC was more accessible with fewer services hampering access and asbestos was less of an issue.

If guidance was to be developed by IStructE and RICS this would need input from affected landlords including assessments and survey reports – acknowledging there might be limitations on what information could be shared. Development of advice and guidance specific to the domestic market would be valuable and should enable landlords and private owners to put in place more customised, cost effective remedial measures proportionate to the condition of the RAAC.

From the assessment and survey information provided, IStructE expected to be able to define a set of parameters from which solutions could be developed – and which would inform the proposed guidance. Moreover, it was anticipated that identifying solutions from an aggregation of information provided by landlords would only require a small number of contractors to put these into effect.  

RICS noted liaison between themselves and IStructE along with ongoing work updating their own guidance including FAQs. An author had been identified for the proposed consumer guide with this likely to be completed by Q2 of 2025.

In subsequent discussion the following points were made:

• the continuing demand, particularly from homeowners, for support including financial assistance (with it noted that the Scottish Government had not provided any specific RAAC funding)
• RAAC in housing appeared to be less prevalent in England – with the exception of some instances of ‘RAAC system houses’ in Essex, noting these were subsequently rebuilt in the 1980s
• RAAC in Scotland may have been designed more robustly, for example for higher snow loads
• support for the proposed sector specific guidance and provision of information in order to inform its development (subject to any data protection issues)
• advice required on what homeowners could be expected – or required – to do in respect of RAAC remediation

Action – landlords to provide assessment and survey information (subject to any restrictions) to the central team to forward to IStructE.

RSL updates

Updates were provided by representatives of a number of landlords present. Issues noted included:

• pilots underway ahead of putting in place wider programmes of remediation, including the impact of the mitigations once put in place
• the extent that Local Authorities have powers to engage with private owners and undertake work on privately owned properties
• complications arising from properties in blocks which were mixed tenure (tenanted and owned) including the apportioning of remediation costs 
• managing the process of rolling decants of tenants

RAAC response – lessons learned

A short summary was provided in respect of the recently undertaken ‘lessons learned’ exercise, assessing the effectiveness of the Scottish Government’s administrative response to RAAC as an issue. Thanks were given to those who had participated in the survey and debrief process.

While responses had generally been positive, it was noted with respect to the operation of this sub-group that meetings could have been held more frequently to allow for greater discussion of relevant issues. More generally, recommendations arising from the exercise included the need for effective communications as early as possible in a response, particularly the importance of challenging misinformation, and also the need to ‘horizon scan’ to help identify future potential building safety issues.

Action – to circulate lessons learned report to the sub-group once approved.

Future of the Housing sub-group

The chair invited attendees to give views on the future of the sub-group. There was broad consensus that the sub-group should continue broadly in present form as a means of sharing experience and best practice and while the development of housing focussed guidance was being taken forward.

With future advice in mind, it was also suggested that a more technical session of the sub-group would be beneficial, informed by survey and remediation work being undertaken across various RSLs. This in turn could be a source of information to contractors and help ‘derisk’ the process of RAAC management. The importance of this work was noted, particularly in supporting the provision of advice and guidance to private owners.

Action – SG officials to consider the timing and agenda for the next meeting of the sub-group.  

Any other business

No other business was discussed.

Meeting close