{"id":31562,"date":"2021-10-29T16:43:52","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T15:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=31562"},"modified":"2021-10-29T16:44:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T15:44:57","slug":"ihbccop26-in-context-scottish-parliament-research-briefings-flat-management-maintenance-and-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=31562","title":{"rendered":"IHBC@COP26 in context: Scottish Parliament Research Briefings: Flat Management, maintenance and repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Scottish Parliament has published \u2018Research Briefings\u2019 on flat management, maintenance and repairs.<\/h3>\n

image: ‘Different types of buildings containing flats – Scottish Parliament website<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

…While there are plenty of incentives for flat owners to work together to maintain or improve their building, there are challenges in practice….<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

Scottish Parliament writes:<\/p>\n

Flats are an important part of Scotland’s housing stock. In buildings which contain flats lots of different repairs and maintenance problems can arise. The condition of some of these buildings is relatively poor, particularly the older ones.<\/p>\n

While there are plenty of incentives for flat owners to work together to maintain or improve their building, there are challenges in practice.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty amongst flat owners<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sometimes flat owners are unclear as to who is responsible for dealing with maintenance and repair problems affecting the building, believing that some responsibility might lie with, for example, the local council.<\/p>\n

In fact, a flat owner has the primary responsibility for repairs and maintenance to his or her flat. In addition, flat owners usually have some collective responsibility for repairs and maintenance to other important parts of the building.<\/p>\n

The situation does not change significantly if an owner rents his or her flat out. Flat owners still retain the main responsibilities even if they rent out their properties.<\/p>\n

See\u00a0Rights and responsibilities of flat owners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The role of property managers or factors<\/span><\/h2>\n

In some parts of the country, such as urban areas on the west coast of Scotland, it has been very common for there to be a property manager or factor for the building.More widely across Scotland, many modern developments and increasing numbers of traditional blocks, especially in urban areas, will have a property manager or factor.<\/p>\n

In return for payment, this person or organisation typically undertakes tasks, including arranging repairs or maintenance to buildings and their grounds.<\/p>\n

The property factoring sector is now regulated under the\u00a0Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011<\/a>. Under this legislation,\u00a0there is a Code of Conduct<\/a>, setting out minimum standards of service which registered property factors have to meet.<\/p>\n

In certain circumstances, a flat owner can complain to the\u00a0First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber)<\/a>\u00a0if the factor is not complying with the Code of Conduct, or certain other parts of the 2011 Act.<\/p>\n

However, difficulties can still arise between flat owners and factors. Changing factors if owners are not happy with their current service is an area where the law is particularly complex.<\/p>\n

See\u00a0Property managers or factors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Getting owners to work together effectively<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sometimes owners can struggle to work together effectively in relation to necessary repairs and maintenance.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004<\/a>\u00a0is an important piece of legislation, containing the\u00a0Tenement Management Scheme<\/span>\u00a0(TMS). The TMS applies where the official ownership documents of the building (known as\u00a0the title deeds<\/a>) do not make alternative arrangements.A key policy innovation of the TMS is that it allows\u00a0binding decisions by simple majority<\/span>\u00a0(51%) on a range of issues.<\/p>\n

However, some housing experts question whether this legislation,\u00a0and other related legislation<\/a>, have delivered improvements to the condition of buildings in practice.1<\/span><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Resolving disputes<\/span><\/h2>\n

Local sheriff courts<\/a>\u00a0have responsibility for resolving disputes relating to the TMS.<\/p>\n

These courts are also a key forum for resolving disputes about whether a title condition has been disobeyed by a flat owner. A\u00a0title condition<\/span>\u00a0is a form of legal obligation contained in the title deeds.<\/p>\n

Public bodies do not have general responsibility for enforcement action in relation to breaches of the rules in the TMS or a title condition. Usually flat owners must raise a court action themselves.<\/p>\n

See\u00a0The Tenement Management Scheme<\/a>,\u00a0Working together with other flat owners<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Resolving Disputes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The role the local council plays<\/span><\/h2>\n

The local council has a variety of statutory powers to require that owners carry out certain repairs. However, the council also usually has a good deal of discretion as to whether it uses the powers or not, unless a building is classified as dangerous. When public finances are tight, the powers are typically used as a last resort.<\/p>\n

See\u00a0A council’s powers relating to repairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Difficulties paying for repairs<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Scotland, there is not a culture amongst flat owners of anticipating future work and saving together for it.2<\/span><\/sup><\/span>\u00a0This means owners can struggle to pay when something unexpected happens or when parts of the building with a limited lifespan wear out.<\/p>\n

Councils can offer assistance to private owners to carry out repairs. However, nowadays the assistance is typically not financial support.<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Why is IHBC@COP26? Because \u2018Conserving our Places Conserves our Planet\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Join IHBC\u2019s globally accessible virtual built and historic environment \u2018Conservation Helpdesk+<\/a>\u2019, #IHBCHelpdesk #CultureCOP26 \u2013 open 31\/10 to 12\/11)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Scottish Parliament has published \u2018Research Briefings\u2019 on flat management, maintenance and repairs. image: ‘Different types of buildings containing flats – Scottish Parliament website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31562"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31565,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31562\/revisions\/31565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}