In August 2024, the same month Balnagask couple Callum and Sarah Shinnie found out their house was to be condemned due to Raac, Sarah gave birth to their baby son.
Desperate to feel safe and settled after hearing their home was so unsafe it had to be demolished, they accepted an offer on their home for £43,000 less than it’s pre-Raac value.
That was in December last year and since then they’ve heard nothing more from Aberdeen City Council despite numerous attempts by their solicitor to move the situation along.
“I gave birth believing that we could be evacuated any minute, such was the safety risk of our homes, ” said NHS occupational therapist Sarah Shinnie, 28.
“Now, almost six months on from accepting an offer, that effectively strips us of everything we worked and saved for, we’re still here with an apparently unsafe roof hanging over our heads, in an environment we no longer recognise.”
‘I thought my Torry home was the deal of the century,’ said Callum
Former oil and gas worker Callum bought the three-bed Lochnagar Road property in October 2017 when he was just 21 years old.
“I was working and trying to get as good a start as I could for my future family. It was up for £119,000 but all I could pay was £107,000.
“I remember calling my solicitor who told me it was a part-exchange house so he’d need to ask the property developer selling it.
“He came back telling me the property developer said, ‘Ach, it’s Friday afternoon, let’s do it.’ I thought I’d got the deal of the century.”
‘We heard about Raac from our neighbours, not the council’
Two years later, after their wedding, Sarah moved in, and the couple celebrated the birth of their first baby, Olivia, in July 2022.
Now a youth pastor, investing in Aberdeen’s young people alongside his wife, Callum and Sarah were happy in Torry.
“We’ve been really happy here. We had no issues and had great neighbours,” said 29-year-old Callum.
“In fact, it was from our neighbours that we first heard about having Raac in our roof.”
The young couple got a knock at their door from their concerned council tenant neighbours who were told weeks before homeowners that their roofs could contain the crumbly concrete.
“When we eventually got a letter I remember staring at it for ages wondering what it would mean,”Callum explained.
“We had just started doing up our house and had taken pictures to sell, knowing we were growing our family and wanted something with a bit more space.
“That all came to an abrupt halt with Raac.”
‘It’s frustrating not to know what’s happening,’ says Sarah
From there on, the couple watched residents, friends and neighbours leave their street one after another.
There are just two occupied properties on their road now, and they say the area is being left to go to ruin.
“There are overflowing bins, rubbish is being left everywhere, and our area is in the first wave of proposed demolitions. We don’t know what that will mean for our house. Will we have access to our road? Will I even be able to hang washing out? We know nothing. It’s incredibly frustrating,” said Sarah.
After baby Jude was born, they explored all their options and asked – as they were informed they could – to be considered for council accommodation.
“We were offered a two-bedroom place smaller than what we have now in an area we don’t know. It wouldn’t work for us. What we need is certainty. We can’t even fill out a form for Olivia to start nursery because we don’t know where we are going to be,” said Callum.
‘Our offer is £43,000 less than it’s pre-Raac value’
The pair then decided to engage with Aberdeen City Council’s buy-back scheme, agreeing to have their home assessed by the Valuation Office Agency.
“She didn’t give much away when she came,” Sarah said, “then we were offered £73,000.”
“It’s obviously a lot less than it was worth a year ago,” added Callum, “but we have to think of our children.
“We did ask for a clause to be added that if more money becomes available to compensate Raac homeowners in the future, we’d be included in that. Though we were told no more money is going to be available.
“That was in December. We haven’t heard anything since. We have a pretty relentless lawyer and all we’ve heard nothing more.”
‘The communication has been terrible… it’s keeping us in limbo’
They’re now left wondering where they will be for the new school term and Sarah returning from maternity leave.
“The unknown of it all is really unsettling. We are Christians, and we have faith that we’ll get through this. That doesn’t mean we are just sitting here happy to be kept in the dark,” said Sarah, who is originally from Northern Ireland.
“I’d say the communication of all of this has been pretty terrible. I can understand why people are struggling with their mental health,” Callum continued. “For us, we will be pretty much starting from scratch. We’ve lost the deposit we had built up in our property. And we don’t know what that will mean for us finding a new home.
“We are pretty much stuck in Raac limbo.”
‘It’s all been so unfair,’ say the Shinnies
“If we didn’t have kids we’d maybe be fighting this in a different way. The whole thing is incredibly unfair and how it’s been handled hasn’t helped.
“We just want to take our babies and start again. We can’t even do that.”
Aberdeen City Council has been approached for comment on Callum and Sarah’s situation.
Previously, a spokesperson from the Council said that the local authority is continuing to work with everyone who has been affected by RAAC.
“We are committed to continuing to engage with all council tenants, owners and private tenants who have been affected by RAAC and keep them informed of any new updates. Anyone who is concerned about RAAC should read our Frequently Asked Questions online.
Last week we revealed that of the 138 privately owned homes, only four properties have been acquired by the buy-back scheme. Only 13 households have agreed to sell for the valuations offered.
More form our Trapped by Raac campaign here:
Exclusive: We put Aberdeen City Council co-leader in the hot seat over Raac
Dad and son Trapped by Raac: ‘We’ll barricade the doors before we accept insulting house offer’
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