A national charity appeared to perform a U-turn this week when one of its directors announced it was no longer seeking to evict a couple from their home in Dunkeld.
The Perthshire Advertiser reported two months ago the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) had served notice on community councillor Chris Claydon and her partner Scott Trotter to quit Castle Cleirach where Chris has lived for the past 18 years.
The charity said the reason it needed to evict the pair was their rented property required urgent structural repairs and they could not remain in the house while the work was carried out.
However the couple questioned why the NTS did not consider other options such as putting them up in temporary accommodation to allow the faults to be fixed and letting them move back in once the repairs were finished.
Their complaints were recently taken up by tenants’ union Living Rent who rallied support from the local community for the pair to remain in situ and appealed to the Trust to withdraw its notice to quit.
The group - which campaigns for better rights for tenants and protections against rent increases, evictions and poor quality housing - stressed its belief the threat of eviction should only ever be used as “a last resort”.
It pointed out there is a severe lack of affordable housing in the Dunkeld area at the moment and if the NTS made good on its threat to evict Chris and Scott it was likely the couple would have to move away from the area.
A spokesperson said: “We are in the midst of a housing crisis which sits within a much greater cost-of- living crisis.
“With more and more homes in the Highlands being lost to long term tenants to become holiday lets - to lose this tenancy would mean that Chris and Scott would have to move away from their much beloved community.”
The NTS appeared to row back on its decision to evict Chris and Scott this week, however, saying it was now postponing the planned repairs until the couple can find somewhere else to stay and it would provide the pair the “opportunity” to move back into Castle Cleirach once the work is finally done.
Stuart Maxwell, the charity’s regional director for Edinburgh and the east of Scotland, told the PA this week: “My colleagues spent time with the tenants and explained that we had already doubled the notice period to give them more time to find suitable alternative accommodation.
“They in turn told us that in current market conditions they were finding such accommodation very difficult to find.
“While the repairs are essential and it’s unavoidable that they must be carried out at some point, there is no immediate risk to either the tenants or the structure.
“We will therefore postpone the repairs to give the tenants time to find somewhere else to live, or we ourselves are in a position to offer a vacant property for temporary use, with the opportunity for them to return to the original tenancy once works are complete.”
Yesterday Chris and Scott told the PA they were “extremely relieved” they were no longer facing the immediate threat of homelessness.
“This whole experience has been horrendous,” said Chris. “The prospect of losing our home left me really struggling at times.
“It was the support of Scott, our families, our friends, our wonderful community and Living Rent that got me through this.”
Scott added: “There remain questions to be answered about the way in which this situation was escalated by the NTS, and we look forward to receiving a commitment, and timeline, to being able to stay in our home.”
