The plight of Aberdeen homeowners Trapped by Raac is not a new one.
For more than a year we’ve covered this burgeoning crisis.
Cheap ‘bubbly concrete’ was used to construct council houses.
Families moved in. People bought their homes.
And now the very roofs over the heads of this once tight-knit community are in jeopardy.
Real people, trapped by Raac in Aberdeen
What began as a set of numbers on an Aberdeen City Council agenda for our reporters – “504 homes to be demolished” –Â were exchanged time and again with the names and stories of real people.
Like Avril and Mike who feel they can now no longer retire.
Or ex army-veteran Charlie who worries he’ll be homeless in his 80s.
Carol, who can’t understand why her house is valued so much less than her neighbour’s.
And Amie, who bought her ‘forever’ house only to see that dream dissipate.
Each story underpinned by the same heartbreaking sentiment: “How can the sum of our lives be demolished, or taken from us without adequate compensation?”
Worse still: “Why does it seem like nobody cares?”
In this through no fault of their own
There are, of course, myriad levels of administration to consider when trying to unpick the disaster that has been the handling and management of this crisis across our nation.
There are cash-strapped councils, devolved housing issues, and governments, at both local and national levels, which commissioned and regulated the building of these homes.
Not to mention the conundrum of why no two local authorities seem to be tackling the crumbly concrete in the same way.
It seems the only thing we can all agree on is that the homeowners are here through no fault of their own.
So this is where we all come in.
We need your help… sign the petition below
This week we launched our Trapped by Raac campaign.
To bring an end to the finger-pointing and blame-shifting it will take government and leaders of all levels to come together.
The very least the homeowners deserve is a reply from Westminster. But it will take 10,000 signatures on a petition to make that happen.
Click below to add your name. 
They say a year is a long time in politics.
But it’s a never-ending nightmare when you’re Trapped by Raac.
Read:
Conversation