Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Uninhabitable’ mud-covered Brechin flat ruined in Storm Babet being auctioned off

The one-bedroom property on River Street was left under water during October's deluge.

Euan Clark in his mud-covered River Street flat in the days after Storm Babet. Image: Paul Reid.
Euan Clark in his mud-covered River Street flat in the days after Storm Babet. Image: Paul Reid.

An “uninhabitable” mud-covered Brechin flat that was ruined by flooding during Storm Babet is being auctioned off.

The ground-floor flat was one of dozens left under several feet of water when the River South Esk burst its banks in October.

Occupant Euan Clark told The Courier at the time how the water was chest-high and he feared he was going to die as he tried to flee his home.

Now the flat, which cannot get a mortgage because of the damage, is being sold off at auction.

Euan Clark will move out of the flat
Euan Clark inside his flat in the days after the flood. Image: Paul Reid

It has a guide price of just £15,000 – which, according to Zoopla, is £60,000 below the average sale price for flats in the Brechin area.

The River Street property – which has one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room – will need a full refurbishment.

Euan told The Courier it would have cost a huge amount for him to bring the flat back up to a liveable standard.

‘Estimate of £20k to make River Street flat habitable again’

He said: “The house is owned by my dad, who inherited it from my gran who had lived there for more than 60 years.

“I rented it from him for around four years before the flood.

“After the flood we got an estimate of around £20,000 to make it habitable again.

Brechin flat destroyed by Storm Babet going up for auction
The flat is on the ground floor of a block on River Street. Image: Auction House Scotland
The rear of the block. Image: Auction House Scotland
River Street was under several feet of water during Storm Babet. Image: Paul Reid

“We decided the best thing to do was to try to put it on the market and get rid of it.

“All we did after the flood was to clear out all my belongings.

“The flat is still covered in mud and is completely uninhabitable at the moment.

The hall of the flat. Image: Auction House Scotland
The flat is just yards from the River South Esk. Image: Auction House Scotland
Mud still covers the floors. Image: Auction House Scotland
The kitchen is extensively damaged. Image: Auction House Scotland
The flat is being auctioned with a guide price of just £15,000. Image: Auction House Scotland
The flat will need to be renovated. Image: Auction House Scotland

“I would love to be able to go back there to live but it’s just not realistic between the reinstatement costs and my fears for the future if the river were to burst its banks again.

“It’s so sad what happened but if we can sell the house, we will be happy.”

Drone footage released in the hours after Storm Babet showed the River Street area covered in water.

Auction House Scotland says a date for the flat’s sale is still to be confirmed.

Conversation