A Dundee woman claims urine runs down the walls of her family’s “nightmare” council house.
Robyn Kerwin, 29, says there is also a hole in her kitchen ceiling, her walls are flaking and cupboard doors have fallen off at her Kirkton home.
The mum-of-four has lived in the property on Balgowan Avenue for the last five years, but is now pleading with Dundee City Council to be moved to more suitable accommodation.
‘Urine pours down the walls’
Among the most significant problems is a cracked toilet – causing water to run into the kitchen below.
Robyn said: “It’s the toilet bowl that is faulty so it’s what goes into the toilet that leaks on to the kitchen worktops, not just clear water.
“It’s urine that pours down the walls. I have a towel in place on the worktops to try to soak up the worst of it but it’s completely unhygienic.”
Robyn claims the house has had dozens of issues since she moved in, after agreeing to a property swap to get more bedrooms.
When she moved in she had two children, was pregnant with her third and has since had a fourth. The youngsters are aged two to 11.
She said: “I moved from a decent two-bedroom house in St Mary’s to here because I was pregnant at the time and needed more space.
I’d like (council officials) to try living here, it’s a complete nightmare and I’m at my wits’ end.”
“This house should never have been passed as habitable, it’s a disgrace, but now I’m stuck here and see no way out of it at all.
“The council tell me I’m 20 points short of qualifying for somewhere else – but I’d like them to try living here, it’s a complete nightmare and I’m at my wits’ end.”
Robyn says one of the biggest issues happened just before the first Covid lockdown in March 2020.
She said: “The previous tenants installed a shower themselves but it wasn’t done properly.
“It was leaking and eventually forced a hole in my kitchen ceiling, which is below the bathroom, with water pouring through.”
She claims the council eventually sent someone to repair it a few months ago, adding: “They nailed a square of hardwood over the hole and that was the extent of the repair.
“The hardwood is still there and nothing else has been done to fix it.”
Robyn says she has tried to decorate but it is “pointless” due to the state of the house.
She said: “It’s disgusting that I have to bring my children up here.
“We’re stuck here and it’s awful. I try hard but I just end up in tears because things are so bad.”
Council ‘engaged in matter’
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “We are engaged in the matter.
“If Ms Kerwin wishes to discuss the issues raised further she should contact the council in order to do so.”
It comes just a day after we revealed how tenants living in “freezing” conditions in Dundee’s oldest council houses say they are struggling to cope with fuel poverty.
Pensioners living in Scotland’s oldest council estate freezing in fuel poverty
