Former Fife care home confirmed as new accommodation for refugees fleeing war

The plans are now subject to viability checks and confirmation of Scottish Government funding, but the property could soon accommodate between 30 and 40 people fleeing war torn countries for the next two to three years.

The council's housing service said the move was necessary to secure alternative accommodation after the UK Government at Westminster announced plans to phase out the use of hotel accommodation for refugees.

Councillor John Beare (Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch,SNP) reported that just last week refugee residents in one of Fife’s hotels were given notice of eviction.

“All have been given notice that they have to leave by the end of August,” he said.

Housing officers said the Kingdom must “plan for the worst and hope for the best” in terms of its accommodation arrangements.

“The Cabinet might remember previous reports raising concerns that the responsibility of the UK Government and Home Office might drift onto local authorities and that’s where we are finding it just now,” a housing spokesman explained.

“We have kept the streams of homelessness and [refugee accommodation] separate for now, but all of these numbers that we are talking about in host/sponsor arrangements are potentially homeless households. We’ve got to do something about that.”

Councillor Judy Hamilton, Labour member and spokesperson for gousing and building services, encouraged all members approve the proposals.

“The message has to be that refugees are welcome here and we’ll do everything we can for the Fife Warm Welcome,” she said.

Plans for Methilhaven:

Methilhaven is currently a care home for the elderly, but in a few short weeks residents will be moved into a new retirement housing village.

The soon-to-be vacant site was selected by housing services as the best mid-term option available for refugee housing in Fife.

Now that the cabinet committee has approved the plan in principle, a formal application will be made to the Scottish Government seeking support for the re-provisioning costs to be met by the Government’s £50m Ukrainian Resettlement Fund.

Councillor David Graham (Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages, Labour) was supportive, but raised concerns about the length of time between occupants and the future of the property.

“There is an ongoing fear in the Levenmouth area regarding derelict buildings that are left for any length of time being burned to the ground. How long will the building sit vacant between the current care home residents and the point when we get new folk into it?” he asked.

“How are we going to ensure the security of the building between now and then to ensure there are no incidents such as the devastating damage done to buildings in our communities just recently when they were sitting empty?”

Councillors were assured that safety measures would be put in place to prevent such incidents, but no time frame could be provided.

At the end of the two to three year period, Fife Council is planning to demolish the property and rebuild council housing on the site.