Under One Roof Newsletter - April 2023

In this edition find out about our recent event, getting neighbours to pay for an emergency repair, training for factors, policy updates, and more.

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Visit our website for more information about tenement maintenance and management, and use our 'Ask a tenement expert' feature to receive tailored answers to specific tenement-related queries.

Tenement owners attend free information session on tenement management and retrofit

The Under One Roof-hosted event, held in Barrhead in collaboration with East Renfrewshire Council,?included separate presentations aimed at owner-occupiers and landlords, covering?various topics from the role of title deeds to the difference between individual, mutual, and common repairs, as well as the importance of building insurance.

The presentations also updated the over 60 participants on upcoming and proposed Scottish Government legislative changes, such as mandatory owners’ associations and new requirements around energy efficiency and retrofit. This presentation prompted discussion amongst audience members as to the challenges landlords and owner-occupiers may face in light of these changes.

After both presentations, the Under One Roof team were on hand to answer specific questions from audience members about their buildings.?

We’re planning more of these events with local authorities across Scotland, so click on the links below to follow our social media pages to find out about the next opportunity to speak to us in person about managing common repairs.

Or, if you have a more immediate concern, use the ‘Ask a tenement expert’ feature on our website.

Ask a tenement expert

Question of the month: My neighbour is refusing to pay for an emergency repair. What can I do?

We have been receiving questions via our enquiry service on our website. Here’s an example of the difficulties tenement owners are facing when it comes to recovering costs and what options are available.?

Q: I live in a block of six flats. We had to go ahead with an emergency roof repair, and one of our neighbours is refusing to pay - what can we do?

First, check your title deeds for any reference to emergency repairs, and if there is none, follow the steps below.?

The Tenements (Scotland) Act?states that?any owner can carry out emergency work and recover the costs.?

What counts as emergency work??

Emergency works are those defined as repairs which:?

• can’t wait for a joint decision to be made amongst owners?
• are required to prevent damage to your building?
• are in the interests of health and safety?

Make sure to try and have a conversation with your co-owner to see if you can find out why they are refusing pay. Is it the case that they won’t pay or?can’t pay? This might be a tricky conversation to have – see our article on?how to have difficult conversations.?

Your neighbour’s title deeds set out the rules and responsibilities they have for the building, but they also have a legal duty to maintain the building.?

What is the Duty to Maintain??

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 states that?every owner must maintain?any part of their building that provides shelter and support, to ensure that it can continue to provide this shelter and support effectively.?

This means that if your neighbour is refusing to pay for an emergency repair that affects the shelter and support of the building, such as in this case with a repair to the roof, they have breached their duty to maintain.

Remind your neighbour of the Duty to Maintain?

You have the right to remind your neighbour of their legal duty. You can do this by sending them a letter, either in physical form through their letter box or digitally.?

In the letter, you should include the details of the work carried out, why it was carried out, what their share is, and how they can contact you to arrange payment.

If you send a physical letter, it is good practice to take a photograph as evidence that it has been sent.?

Duty to Maintain template letter

Next steps?

If you get no response to your letter, you can take legal action to recover the costs.?Before taking legal action, consider:?

• getting advice?from local advice centres or Citizens Advice - they may be able to advise alternatives to legal action?
• mediation?- there are community mediation schemes available in several areas, or private mediation is also an option?

For repairs under ￡5000?

You can undergo Simple Procedures through the Sheriff Court:?

• Simple Procedures is designed to be used by people with little legal knowledge and without the help of a legal professional?
• it involves completing and submitting a Claim Form (Form 3A) to the Sheriff Court - the court which hears the claim is the one within the area where your co-owner lives or has a place of business?
• the Sheriff Clerk will check and register the form, and then give a date by which a response must be made by your co-owner - this is usually about three weeks?
• your co-owner can either dispute the claim and provide their own evidence, settle the claim before the response date, settle the claim but ask for extra time to pay, or do nothing?
• if your co-owner decides to do nothing, it is likely the case will be found against them - see our website for more information on?what happens if your co-owner does nothing?

For repairs over ￡5000?

You can take other legal action or professional help:?

• the legal procedure to take is called an ‘Ordinary Cause’?
• in this case, you will need a?solicitor?to advise you and the case will still be handled by the Sheriff Court

Thinking ahead?

It is important to note that although at times necessary, emergency repairs are more likely where a property has not been well-maintained:?

• emergency repairs are generally poor value for money compared with planned repairs?
• it’s likely the repair will only have been a patch job and that more thorough repairs are required?
• consider?getting professional help, such as having the roof surveyed, and plan for proper repairs as they will be cheaper in the long run?

If the other owner remains uncooperative, make sure to follow proper procedures for future repairs. For example, your council might be able to help with the cost of repairs, such as through?Missing Shares?or serving a?Work Notice. However, these procedures can only be used?before the repair?work has started.?

Have a specific question about your building?

Ask a tenement expert

Under One Roof launches training for factors

Staff at 91BC Property Services took part in Under One Roof’s first tenement training session in February.

Our Training and Education Officer, Jacqueline Omoniyi, shared her expertise with the team from 91BC, a factoring company based in Drumchapel, Glasgow.

The session included in-depth explanations of what it means to be a factor, legislation affecting property managers in Scotland, and the factors’ Code of Conduct.?

"Jacqueline's wide scope of knowledge was brilliant." - 91BC Property Services

The session was interactive, with the opportunity for questions. 91BC team members also shared specific examples from their work and received advice relating to the issues they face day-to-day.?

Does your factoring company need affordable training on helping clients manage common repairs, retrofit, and other tenement-related issues??

Get in touch to find out more by contacting our training officer at?[email protected].

Find out more

Policy update: Scottish Government

Under One Roof took part in the second meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Tenement Maintenance Working Group in February.

Four MSPs attended the meeting, including Graham Simpson (Conservative), Daniel Johnson (Labour), Kaukab Stewart (SNP), and John Mason (SNP). Under One Roof and?Built Environment Forum Scotland, who act as secretariat for the group, provided updates to professionals in the built environment sector, such as factors, architects and surveyors, local authority housing officers, and MSPs.?

The aim of the working group is to look for legislative fixes to address issues around contacting absent owners, tied votes when attempting common repairs, and dealing with lingering issues related to rateable value.?

These issues carry on from the group’s original proposals that the Scottish Government has agreed to legislate for:?

• mandatory owners’ associations -?will make it easier for owners to work together to carry out necessary repairs??
• five-yearly tenement building inspections - help to identify necessary repairs and improve maintenance knowledge?
• compulsory building reserve funds - will make it easier for owners to secure the money to pay for repairs?

Contact?your MSP?today to urge them to join the working group and help us shape policy that will help tenement owners for decades to come.?

Contact your MSP

Overcoming the challenges of retrofitting traditional buildings in Scotland

Energy efficiency and retrofit pose a significant obstacle for owners living in traditional tenement buildings. How can Scotland overcome these obstacles?

Professor in Housing Economics (Urban Studies) at the University of Glasgow, Kenneth Gibb, writing in?People, Place and Policy (PPP), has looked closely at the issues of delivering retrofit in the context of Scotland’s traditional housing stock and its targets for net zero. In this article, Gibb notes that finding retrofit solutions for tenement housing is essential to reaching Scotland’s net zero targets.

For older tenemental buildings, especially those constructed before 1919, retrofit is extremely challenging. Traditional sandstone tenements often have high energy demands and poor insulation levels.?

The Scottish Government aim to reach net zero by 2045. However, Gibb points out that attempting to reach this target by focusing solely on renewables is unlikely to be successful. Scotland needs a combined approach of renewables and fabric-first retrofit solutions.?

A fabric-first approach involves improving the materials of the building before considering adding extra systems. For example, prioritising draught-proofing, insulation, and repairs before installing solar panels.

Gibb goes into detail about these specific challenges and concludes that there needs to "be a wider suite of financial and regulatory interventions… that are demonstrably fair to those affected"?and that "government and the private sector... have to co-operate to develop the new economic sector required to deliver retrofit at scale."

Read the full article

There are some funding schemes available to help with energy efficiency improvements to homes, such as the?Private Rented Sector Landlord loan.?

Check which funding schemes are available in your area?

More information from the Scottish Government?

New retrofit website section

Under One Roof is currently expanding the retrofit section of our website.

This section will cover the basics of retrofit, retrofit solutions for tenement buildings, and financing retrofit.

What else would you like to see? For example, would a checklist of things to consider before starting a retrofit project be helpful??

Drop us an email?at [email protected]?and let us know what you would find useful.

How does the Repairing Standard update affect landlords in tenement buildings?

In March, the Scottish Government published updates to?the Repairing Standard?for landlords, due to come into effect from 1st March 2024.?

What is the Repairing Standard?

The Repairing Standard “outlines the legal and contractual obligations private landlords are required to meet to ensure that a privately let property meets a minimum physical standard.” (Scottish Government)

The new measures: What do these new measures mean for landlords?

• Safe kitchens:?there must be safe and accessible food storage and preparation space in every rented property
• Fixed heating system:?the heating system must be in working order and tenants should not be reliant on portable heaters for warmth
• Safe access to common parts:?tenants must be able to safely access and use common parts of tenement flats, such as the close and stairs
• Consent to work on common parts:?a property will no longer fail to meet the repairing standard, if common repairs, previously needed to comply with the standard, cannot be carried out due to a lack of majority owners consenting to the work
• Safe and secure common doors:?common doors must have secure and satisfactory locks - tenants must be able to open common doors from the inside without a key to make exit in the event of a fire easier
• Residual current devices:?the supply of electricity must be in working order?and must include a residual current device - this device breaks the circuit in the event of a fault, reducing the risk of electrocution and fire
• Other fuels: the system that provides heating must be in good working condition and now applies to systems that uses other fuels, such as oil, liquid petroleum gas, or biomass

The Repairing Standard update

??To stay up to date, subscribe to this newsletter??

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Visit our website for more information about tenement maintenance and management, and use our 'Ask a tenement expert' feature to receive tailored answers to specific tenement-related queries.