Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Man hits out at ‘disgusting’ council bedsit that costs more than £1,000 a month

Allister Stewart. Picture by Scott Baxter
Allister Stewart. Picture by Scott Baxter

An Aberdeen man forced to seek emergency housing has criticised council chiefs for “rip off” rents after they charged him more than £1,000 a month for a “disgusting” bedsit.

Allister Stewart turned to the city council for aid after he broke up with his partner because her name was on their lease.

The 51-year-old, who works for a cleaning and catering company, was offered a temporary bedsit home on Hazlehead Terrace which he took up thinking the rent was £60 a week.

But along with the £60 a week rent it soon emerged council chiefs also expected him to splash out £204 a week on “service charges”.

This brought Mr Stewart’s total payments to £1,056 a month – a price usually more befitting of the rent paid for a multi-bedroom property in the north-east.

Faced with unsustainable payments, he says he will now go “sofa surfing” at friend’s homes until better and cheaper accommodation is available.

Mr Stewart said: “I am handing the keys back because I just can’t afford the rent. It would put me in debt if I tried to pay it.

“I am in work which is why they can charge so much. If I was on benefits the rent would be paid for me. It makes you wonder what the point in working is.” In addition to costs, Mr Stewart has also been unimpressed with the standard of accommodation offered by the council.

“They are charging me all this money for services but the place is absolutely disgusting,” he said.

“I think it’s just terrible how the council treat people. I came to them for help but I feel so let down because it is such a rip-off.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said the rates charged for temporary accommodation were well established.

“The charge is based on the costs of running our temporary accommodation, including council tax, staff costs, furniture, repairs, voids, bad debt and cleaning,” she said.

“The charge was approved by committee and has not changed since 2016.

“Common with other local authorities, Aberdeen City Council has an extra charge on our temporary accommodation as temporary accommodation is fully furnished and has a high turnover compared to normal tenancies.

“All households are also helped to fill out a housing benefit form at sign up which may reduce their liability for the charge depending on their income.”