A STUDENT housing provider has been accused of putting profit above safety after hundreds of tenants were moved into unlicensed flats which haven’t been fully assessed by fire chiefs.

Firefighters have been called out to Scotway House, in the West End, on 12 occasions since it opened last month.

But they weren’t able to complete an audit of the building before students moved in as developer Structured House Group hadn’t secured a certificate from Glasgow City Council to confirm building works were complete.

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The operators of the Castlebank Street property have also failed to supply the required gas certificate.

Licensing chiefs turned down their bid for houses in multiple occupation (HMO) licences for 33 flats, housing 169, mainly international, students.

Laws governing HMOs were introduced in 2000 after two young men died in a flat fire on Melrose Street in the Woodlands area of the city.

Councillor Elspeth Kerr said: “We have HMO laws because two boys died because of an unlicensed, unsafe premises. We want to stop that happening again. I’m absolutely aghast at what I’m hearing. Are peoples’ lives expendable?”

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Company director Brian Smith said: “Not at all, councillor. The decision was borne out of safety.”

But Ms Kerr said: “I think it was borne out of money. I think it would have been far safer if you had said we’re not ready yet.”

Mr Smith responded: “The majority of the students were already in the country. They were effectively our responsibility.”

“There’s no way you can say we’re toying with lives here. The building was built in line with regulations.”

A fire service spokesman said the call-outs all related to cooking incidents, adding firefighters had offered advice to the property owners.

However, he said: “It is difficult to qualify our concerns because we didn’t have the opportunity to undertake a full structural audit.”

“Without a structural approach I would only be giving an opinion.”

The council will now consider its options, which could include reporting the incident to the Procurator Fiscal. A further 230 students live on the site in homes which do not require a licence.

Bailie John Kane said: “This beggars belief. Who made a decision to to move people into a HMO property when you knew you didn’t have a HMO licence?”

Mr Smith said: “That’s a group decision, based on legal information. This is the last position we ever wanted to be in.”

He said they had expected a site visit from the council’s building control team. “The works are complete, we just can’t get a response from building control,” he added. “We’re pushing day in day out for a response.”

Asked about the call-outs, he said: “There’s a significant chance that the majority of those are because the sensors are set almost too safe.”

Mr Smith also told councillors that students had been made aware of the situation.