Aristocrat’s court battle with couple over £37k unpaid rent
A SCOTS aristocrat is locked in a bitter legal battle with a couple over the crumbling state of a 14-bedroom stately home she rented to them.
Dr Peter Dymoke and his wife Beth claim the sprawling mansion was in such a run-down state that it became almost uninhabitable and posed a danger to their health.
The Hon Caroline Best – daughter of the late Lord Kinnaird – has begun a legal bid to have the couple ejected from the £3,125 per month Rossie Priory near Inchture, Perthshire.
She has lodged an action at Perth Sheriff Court which states the couple are £37,000 in arrears with their rent and should be evicted over non-payment.
However, the Dymokes have answered the claim by telling the court they deliberately withheld the rent to try to force the landlord into carrying out essential repairs to the property.
The couple claim there was mould and fungus growing in the house because it was not wind or watertight and had floors which were often damp.
They claimed Mrs Dymoke, 59 – who had a pre-existing disability – fell and injured her head after slipping on the wet floor and ultimately had to move out for her own safety.
In a submission to the court, the couple’s lawyer states: ‘Mrs Dymoke is a person with a disability due to a serious head and brain injury sustained in an action. As a result of conditions on the floor she had fallen and injured her head again.
‘She has not been able to live in the house due to the landlord’s failure to comply with her obligations. Both Mrs Dymoke and her son have been unable to live in the property due to the serious nature and extent of the damp problems.
‘They aver that the pursuer’s persistent delay in carrying out work has rendered it impossible for them to enjoy the occupation and use of the property.’ The couple concede Mrs Best, 71, had carried out some repairs but claim they had been ‘incomplete’ and they lodged a long list of outstanding problems.
They claim that there has been fungal growth on walls and furniture, mould on a toilet ceiling, water staining in a picture gallery and rising damp.
The Dymokes told the court there was a risk of falling masonry because vegetation had been allowed to grow out of chimneys and blocked gutters were causing water to enter.
They also said many windows had been painted shut, and because they could not be opened they posed a fire risk and limited the ventilation.
Mrs Best seeks a decree for ejection from the property along with £37,000 in unpaid rent, a figure agreed by both sides.
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio has ruled that the case should go to a proof before answer and that the Dymokes will need to establish they had ‘a right of retention’, meaning they were entitled to withhold rent to compel the landlord to fix the property.
He said: ‘The real issue arising is whether the defenders have given fair notice of the basis on which they seek to rely on the right of retention.
‘I consider the defender’s averments are sufficient to warrant allowance of a proof before answer.
‘They make a list of complaints the defenders say amount to failures by the pursuer to comply with her obligations.’
‘Unable to live in the property’