A TENANT is quitting a home rented from Olympic medallist Liz McColgan who has been rebuked by a rented housing watchdog after the accommodation was deemed not “reasonably fit for human habitation”.
The Private Rented Housing Committee has ordered the 52-year-old ex-athlete, a former BBC Sports Personality of the Year, to make urgent repairs to the three-bedroom end terraced home in Arbroath or she could face criminal proceedings.
The tribunal heard complaints that the two-storey house was beset with leaks and draughts, cracks in the walls, with windows that did not fit and that there were signs of subsidence.
The tenant, who moved in two years ago, complained that it was hard to keep the house heated, particularly in the winter months, and that in she had felt unsafe in recent months. The panel was told the tenant has now an agreement to leave the house in September and hoped to obtain housing with the local authority.
Dundee-born McColgan who took silver in the 10,000 metres event at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 had told the tribunal that she had a large portfolio of rental properties all of which were maintained to a high standard.
The committee said McColgan acknowledged there were ongoing issues of disrepair at the house but had said there had been no unreasonable delay in addressing matters of disrepair raised by the tenant.
The tribunal was told in June that the landlord's insurers were dealing with a claim over alleged subsidence at the property and this would need to be dealt with before issues with the windows could be looked at.
The committee, who inspected the property in June found that there were cracks throughout the home and evidence of movement of flooring, along with "distortions" to the upstairs windows with gaps between sashes and frames.
It said the damage has been caused by subsidence as a result of a defective drain in a neighbouring property. It was estimated that the works required would be completed in August.
The committee said the subsidence damage had been reported to the landlord in August 2015 and to her agent the following month. But no repair works had been carried out by the time of the committee inspection.
The committee said it had "serious concerns" regarding the length of time that had passed since the initial complaints had been made by the tenant.
"The disrepair complained of was of a serious nature," the panel said. "The committee was therefore satisfied that the landlord had failed to comply with the repairing standard in that the house was not wind and watertight and in all other respects reasonably fit for human habitation and the structure and exterior of the house was not in a reasonable state of repair."
McColgan, who won 10,000 metres gold at the World Championship in Tokyo in 1991, later said that the dispute was "all sorted" and it was "just nonsense" to suggest the house was not suitable for habitation. She said she had followed the proper procedures.
The committee have ordered McColgan to arrange for works to be carried out to address any subsidence and works to include repairing any cracks and defective roughcast and to produce a completion certificate from a qualified structural engineer or insurance loss adjuster.
It said the windows should be repaired or replaced in all upstairs rooms to make them wind and watertight. A rotary airer should also be repaired or replaced.
McColgan, who was appointed an MBE in 1992, has built up an extensive property empire, which played a key role in a divorce battle with her ex-husband, Peter.
By 2008, the couple had accumulated more than 40 homes as part of a property company they jointly owned, as well as establishing the Liz McColgan Health and Physiotherapy Club in the grounds of their £750,000 home in Angus, Scotland.
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