We all know life can be unfair.
But sometimes something happens that is so unjust, so unfair, it needs to be called out.
And if no on listens, we either give up or shout louder.
Even better, we find we are part of a community and stand up for the vulnerable together – people who need our help.
And still, if no one listens, we campaign.
The Courier has done just that this week – acting as a community news title, ensuring we are heard.
The campaign in question is Trapped by Raac.
‘Cut loose’
In case you’re coming in cold, Raac stands for Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete and was used to build council houses and flats – as well as buildings like schools and hospitals – between the 1950s and 1990s.
It was cheaper and (with hindsight) weaker than alternative concretes but at the time it seemed like a cost-effective way to build.
Unlike standard concrete (again with hindsight), it has a shelf life which in some cases could be approaching fast.
The result is that properties are now unmortgageable and people who own their former council home are trapped in it, unable to sell.
Imagine you saved your money and bought under the council’s Right To Buy Scheme and therefore are in a worse position than had you never bought it and rented instead.
At what point did the council’s slogan read Right To Buy… A House Worth Nothing in 40 Years?
Council tenants must be rehomed or their properties rid of Raac, which is normally in roofs but can be in walls too.
Yet, many council tenants still live in these homes with no idea how long for, where they’ll go, if repairs will be done or if their roof might suddenly collapse.
If, however, you bought from the council or subsequent owner, you have been cut loose.
It’s hard to know how many properties in the city are affected.
‘Homeowners hung out to dry’
The council estimates less than 1,000 homes have Raac, though campaigner Yvette Hopkins claims she’s spoken to 3,000 residents living with it.
If you do own, the language used by the council is unequivocal – that they have responsibility to tenants.
If privately owned, they are “the sole responsibility of the owner” and “the council has no ongoing maintenance responsibilities and no liability towards owners who bought their council properties under the Right To Buy Scheme or from any subsequent owners”.
By using Raac the council have created this problem.
In a sea of grey, that is fact.
Don’t let anyone bamboozle you with the old ‘it was a different political party in charge at the time’ trick.
This practice spanned four decades, and a council home is a council home. The buck stops there.
Money has been set aside to fix hospitals and schools for reparation – roofs caving in on patients and kids is not a good look.
But homeowners have been hung out to dry.
BBC film about Raac in Dundee
Let’s look at Yvette to show on the ground, what that problem is.
After reading her story in The Courier, I suggested making a short film for BBC1’s Morning Live.
She invited me into her home to tell me about her ordeal.
Yvette bought her house in Dundee and was proud to be a homeowner with her husband Wayne and two children, raising her son and daughter there.
Finally, they were able to move.
She’d promised her kids, now teens, a garden rather than flat upstairs and was delighted when an offer was made after two days of being on the market.
But the buyers couldn’t get a mortgage because the home report stated the roof in her block of flats was made of Raac.
And here’s the rub. Or another one. There is no legal requirement to state Raac is present in the home report.
But Yvette wanted to do the right thing.
Now, while a home report values her flat at £100,000, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on because banks won’t lend since Raac became a dirty word.
Repairs quoted to owners in her block to fix the roof are puzzlingly high and unaffordable.
Yvette told me she felt she had let her children down and worried about their safety.
She started to cry, wiping away the tears in embarrassment.
But who should be embarrassed here?
Our appeal
The council may not have a legal obligation but by turning its back on people to whom they promised a safe home their moral compass is pointing Tay-ward.
Of course, it doesn’t have money to spare but how much more would we think of a statement that said: “We’re broke, but we did build your house. We will apply for funds to help. We will advise you as best we can, listen and try to help in any way we can.”
Backbone.
Instead, in the absence of the above from the council, we are appealing to you – family, readers, friends and The Courier community – to help the residents stuck in this trap appeal to the UK Government by signing this petition.
10,000 signatures are required for it to be heard by Westminster. Please add your name.
It takes less than a minute. And share it if you can.
Life might not always be fair but there’s every chance of getting something done if we speak up for those who need us.
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