Around 50 angry home owners from all parts of Glasgow, protested at the Scottish Executive’s offices in Edinburgh to stop the ‘extortionate’ repayment plans Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), is forcing on them for work done.

The work –including cladding and reroofing - is part of GHA’s £450 million home improvements programme for the city’s 26,000 homes. Under this repayment scheme, all home owners will have to pay around £6,000 each and only have 12 months to do so.

For Alison Gallacher (48), a home owner from Sandyhills in the east end of Glasgow, this works out at £638.00 a month. This is more than double her £300 a month mortgage re-payment.

Alison works as an administrator for a truck company and supports her 21 year old son who is at university. She bought her ex-council home seven years ago for £46,000 and because it is an ex-council house she is tied into this home improvement works scheme through the title deeds.

She said, ‘I am very angry and am disgusted at the GHA who are not bothered about whether we can afford to pay this or not. I don’t mind paying the bill, but it should be spread over five years to make it more affordable.’

Sean Clerkin, Glasgow Save Our Homes Campaign organiser, along with four other home owners, went in to the Scottish Executive’s offices to request a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and to hand in their petition letter. She was not available on the day to receive it.

Sean said, ‘There are two main issues that we want dealt with. Firstly, GHA should introduce a five year payment plan for all the house-holders who have to pay £6,000. Secondly, the £450 million cost is grossly over-priced. We want an independent financial investigation into this by Audit Scotland.’

He later told the LOCAL NEWS he had received a reply to the Campaign’s two main points. ‘The letter came from Communities Scotland not the Scottish Executive. Communities Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Executive and has worked closely with GHA – seconding very senior personnel. In my opinion, it is in an overwhelmingly incestuous relationship and cannot be seen to be independent.’

The Communities Scotland letter said that both Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and Stewart Maxwell, Minister for Communites and Sport, declined to meet Glasgow Save Our Homes Campaign representatives.

Communities Scotland said the repayment time was a matter for GHA which had received legal advice that would not adversely affect its charitable status.

‘Communities Scotland is the lead regulator for registered social landlords, but it does not have the power to instruct housing associations on repayment times and would, therefore, expect them to seek and act on their own legal advice,’ states the Communities Scotland letter. It goes on to say that a pilot project in Glasgow through the Scheme of Assistance has been developed to provide a broader range of financial support to owners who cannot access mainstream lending.

The letter adds that there are no plans to ask the Auditor General for Scotland to investigate GHA’s investment programme.

The pilot in Glasgow will focus initially on expanding access to lending over a period suitable to owners if they are finding it difficult to meet the cost of work to their homes and cannot access loans elsewhere. Loans will be provided initially by Glasgow Credit Union with financial support from Communities Scotland. The Scheme of Assistance is due to be introduced across Scotland during 2008.