Widower allowed to stay in Glasgow flat despite ejection threat

Joost and Stacey were together since 2013

A widower facing ejection from his Glasgow housing association flat has been told he can stay for four more months as he grieves for his wife.

Joost ten Wolde had been asked to leave the property just two weeks after his wife Stacey died.

His bid to take over the tenancy failed as he had not been listed as living at the flat.

However, he has now been granted more time by Glasgow West Housing Association (GWHA).

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It told Mr ten Wolde in a letter last week that it had rejected his application for tenancy succession because it was "satisfied" the Colebrooke Street property was not his only or principal home.

But the 39-year-old met with housing officers on Tuesday and was granted permission to remain at the ground-floor property until late September.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme he hoped other people would learn from his situation.

Stacey featured in a Glasgow University study on poverty during terminal ilness

"My wife was really sick at the end and she had problems with straightforward thinking," he said.

"You don't think about paperwork. You think about making things as nice as possible... you don't think about what happens when someone passes away, you don't want to think about it.

"People should learn to put things on paper and make things easier when the day comes."

Mr ten Wolde plans to move back to the Netherlands after the summer.

BBC Scotland reported last week that he had been asked to leave the property within 14 days of his wife's death.

Stacey, 39, passed away after a battle with brain cancer on 14 April.

Joost ten Wolde lost his wife Stacey to cancer in April

She had suffered from the genetic condition Li-Fremeni syndrome, which makes a person susceptible to developing cancer.

After he was asked to vacate the property by 28 April, Mr ten Wolde applied for succession of tenancy as her spouse.

However, this was rejected last Thursday because he was not listed on the tenancy, not declared as living at the property, and had another address in the Netherlands.

Mr ten Wolde asked the housing association for extra time at the property.

GWHA had previously said it was providing housing advice to the widower and stressed the importance of keeping information up-to-date during the course of a tenancy.

It said it was "pleased to have reached an amicable solution" with Mr ten Wolde,