You can try to install an older version of Kodi by typing
sudo apt-get install kodi
on the terminal without installing a ppa.
I currently have Ubuntu 16.04.2 installed and this is what I get:
$ apt-cache policy kodi
kodi:
Installed: 2:17.0~git20170210.1529-final-0xenial
Candidate: 2:17.0~git20170210.1529-final-0xenial
Version table:
*** 2:17.0~git20170210.1529-final-0xenial 500
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu xenial/main i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
15.2+dfsg1-3ubuntu1 500
500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 Packages
As you can see I have the ppa installed and that gives me the lastest version. If you type the following command without installing the kodi ppa you should be able to get an older version.
Update after comment:
Kodi has not been updated om the main repos. Actually the main repo is still at 15.2 ! To double check on an older laptop (with 16.1 installed):
$ sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
# (Some output)
$ apt-cache policy kodi
kodi:
Installed: 2:16.1~git20160425.1001-final-0xenial
Candidate: 2:16.1~git20160425.1001-final-0xenial
Version table:
*** 2:16.1~git20160425.1001-final-0xenial 100
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
15.2+dfsg1-3ubuntu1 500
500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 Packages
So by having Ubuntu 16.04 you can get Kodi 15.2. I am not sure (haven't tested it) if you can get kodi 16.1 by installing 16.10. (One can propably test it by trying a live USB.)