| AdminHistory | In the construction of the Craigshill district of Livingston New Town, the Livingston Development Corporaiton underwent a crash housing building program that was designed to provide the one thousand houses per year asked of it by the Scottish Development Department. To cope with this high demand experimental building techniques were adopted, such as the use of prefabricated houses built using industrial methods. The majority of these building were built by Laings Ltd.
Dampness was an issue from the moment Corporation houses were first occupied in 1966. Dampness and condensation was caused by a number of factors including: poor design, construction and layout of the houses; tenants' reluctance to use heating properly given economic factors; and a lack of understanding of the causes of condensation and mould growth, especially from those families which had not occupied dwellings with central heating before. The issue of condensation gave rise to legal proceedings against one of the construction company, John Laing Construction Ltd, that had built certain areas of the town and sponsored certain construction techniques.
Craigshill Community Forum, of which the Reverend Jame Maitland was a key organiser, played an instrumental part in advocating the worries and concerns of Craigshill residents to the Development Corporation. Local MPs Tam Dalyell and Alexander Eadier were also both heavily involved in helping tenants seek redress from the Development Corporation. |