'I don't feel safe': Grandad's years-long plea to Edinburgh Council to fix ‘crumbling’ flat

An Edinburgh grandfather has spent a decade in a crumbling flat which he says is “eating away” at his health.

Ronald Gent has lived in his council flat in the north of Edinburgh for nearly 11 years.

The army veteran said he was just happy to have a roof over his head when he first arrived, so didn’t mind some of the issues he’d found.

But over a decade on, he’s had enough and claims the council have done very little to try and fix problems in the property which include peeling wallpaper and ceilings, crumbling walls, door frames coming away from the wall and cracks in window frames.

Ronald told STV News: “I’m embarrassed for anybody to come in here.

“It’s not comfortable, it’s not warm, and I feel like it’s just eating away at me and I don’t know what to do about it.

“It’s literally impossible to heat the home. It’s a pure waste. The carbon footprint for this house must be enormous.”

Ronald has lived in the flat for almost 11 years STV News

Ronald says he has made numerous complaints to the local authority about the state of his property but despite various visits from surveyors and other council employees, very little has changed.

An army veteran with mobility problems, Ronald has particular trouble with the floors of his flat which are uneven.

“It’s hard for me just to get about,” he said.

“I’ve fallen a couple of times because of the floor, but I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go and I don’t know who to ask.

“I don’t feel safe in here.”

Ronald would ideally like to see repairs made to his flat or be offered another property in better condition.

As a city which has declared a housing emergency, and has long waiting lists for social housing, finding another flat isn’t particularly easy.

Ronald has complained to the council about issues such as peeling paint and crumbling walls STV News

The charity Shelter Scotland says ahead of the City of Edinburgh Council budget in February, more money must go into both building new council homes and maintaining existing properties.

Assistant director Gordon MacRae said: “No one thing is a silver bullet to the scale of the problem.”

He lists helping people to keep the home they have, building more properties, and making better use of existing homes as properties.

He continues: “The only answer to that has to be putting more money into housing services.

“That means a greater share of the money Edinburgh City Council already have but also the Scottish Government looking at a different way of allocating money they’ve got.”

The charity’s stance is that the scale money for tackling homelessness and housing issues should be awarded to councils based on the level of need.

Ronald says his flat is 'impossible to heat' — Ronald says his flat is ‘impossible to heat’ STV News

Edinburgh’s budget for the next year will be set on February 20, and discussions are ongoing among each party in the chamber as how they’d like to see funding allocated.

Councillor Mandy Watt, finance and resources convener, said: “The city is facing a housing and homelessness crisis, following decisions made by the Scottish Government, which has resulted in escalating costs for temporary accommodation.

“Alongside severe pressures on health and social care, this is having a huge impact on our finances and the latest projections show that we will face a shortfall of £30m next year.

“The suggestions being put forward now by officers reflect the challenges that we face. I appreciate their work on this, as we look at ways of narrowing the budget gap whilst protecting our day-to-day services and investing in Edinburgh’s future.

“Nothing has been agreed yet.”