Under One Roof Newsletter - May 2023
Under One Roof Scotland
Promoting the maintenance, management, and preservation of tenement buildings in Scotland.
In this edition find out about our upcoming event, keeping communal outdoor areas tidy, title deeds, 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.
Maintenance and retrofit events for tenement owners
Under One Roof has another free event coming up, with more in the pipeline.
Perth & Kinross Council
- When: Monday 22nd May, 3pm-5pm
- Where: Civic Hall, 2 High Street, Perth, Perth and Kinross, PH1 5PH
Join us for a free and informative event hosted by Under One Roof and Perth & Kinross Council, aimed at owner-occupiers and landlords who want to learn more about maintaining and managing their tenement flats.
Topics covered will include the basics of tenement maintenance, with a focus on knowing your neighbours and how to find them, the issues with patch repairs, the importance of building insurance, and tips for self-factoring your building.
Additionally, we will discuss energy efficiency and retrofit, as well as changes to government regulations affecting owner-occupiers and landlords.
We're planning more of these events with local authorities across Scotland, so click on the links at the top or bottom of this newsletter 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.
Question of the month: What can I do to keep our communal outdoor area safe and clean?
Who can use the communal outdoor area?
Most people who live in a tenement block have access to the back communal outdoor area, such as a garden or a courtyard. However, those living in main door flats, flats accessed from outside rather than via a communal stairwell, are often not permitted to use the communal outdoor area. Instead, they may have access to a front garden.
If your building does not have a main door flat but has a front garden, the front garden is likely the ground floor owners' responsibility.
Check your title deeds if you're unsure about whether you have access to the communal outdoor area. This information can be found in the property section of your title deeds.
Keeping the communal area safe and clean
Outdoor communal areas are usually a common responsibility. This means that all owners are responsible for its maintenance.
There are several ways to manage and maintain the communal outdoor area. Owners may decide to take turns looking after the area or one owner may be happy to take on the responsibility. Or, if suitable, the outdoor area may be divided into sections, with each owner having an individual patch to take care of. The owners of each building can decide what works best for them.
If you have a factor, they may include maintaining the outdoor area as part of their service agreement. In this case, your factor will maintain the outdoor area. However, if there is no mention of outdoor area maintenance in your factor's service agreement, you and your co-owners are responsible for maintaining it.
Problems with outdoor communal areas
Problems can arise with outdoor communal areas, such as issues with dog fouling or the dumping of large refuse items, like broken sofas or mattresses.
Check the title deeds for your building to find out the rules of what you can and cannot do with the communal outdoor area. The burdens section of your title deeds contains these rules.
To keep the area clean and safe for everyone to use, it can be helpful to have an owners' association in your building. When dealing with problems with your building, an owners' association can help to improve communication between owners and make decisions in a more formal way. This can make it easier to maintain and manage the communal parts of your building, like the outdoor area.
If you don’t have an owners' association but there are issues with your communal outdoor area, consider talking to your neighbours about keeping it clean. Our article on how to have difficult conversations can help.
If there is an issue with dog fouling or an accumulation of waste that can be considered a health hazard, you can contact the Environmental Health team at your local council for further advice and information.
Large items, such as sofas or mattresses, dumped in the communal outdoor area will not be collected by regular refuse collectors. In such cases, residents should arrange for a council or private collection for a fee.
Have a specific question about your building?
A short guide to title deeds
Title deeds are an essential part of your building's rules. But they can be tricky to read and navigate. Use our title deeds toolkit to help you understand how to use them.
What are title deeds and where can you find them?
Title deeds are proof of ownership of a building and contain rules that apply to the building. Over the last 35 years, title deeds have gradually been computerised and renamed as land certificates. But the land certificates are based on the original title deeds, so they are essentially the same. Land certificates might also be referred to as a Land Register entry.
Many computerised title deeds for registered properties are found in the Land Register of Scotland. For such properties, anyone can obtain a copy of the title deeds for a nominal fee.
If the property has not yet been recorded in the Land Register, the mortgage lender or the owner or their solicitor will usually hold the title deeds, most likely in the form of a bundle of documents dating back to the original sale of the property.
When someone buys a property, they should be given a copy of the land certificate or title deeds. Recent buyers may simply be sent an email with a link to the Land Register entry of the property.
If you do not have a copy of your land certificate, you can purchase one from the Land Register of Scotland online. Your solicitor should also have copies.
Each land certificate, and many title deeds, will have the following sections:
- a map showing the property boundaries
- a property section - a description of where the property is and a list of rights in common
- a proprietorship section - the owners name, amount paid for the property, and date of entry
- a charges section - a list of mortgagors, etc.
- a burdens section - your building's rules will be found here
How to use your title deeds
Title deeds are the first point of call when dealing with issues or repairs in your tenement building as they set out the building's rules.
Title deeds can tell you about:
- which parts of the building are commonly owned
- common responsibility elements
- mutual responsibility elements
- individual responsibility elements
- decisions that must be taken by all owners
- how decisions should be made
- management rules
- main door flats, shops, etc. with no access to stair
Knowing this information can be useful for finding out shares of repair costs or who is responsible for which parts of your building, for example.
It is also possible to request or obtain land certificates or title deeds for another property if you know the address. This can be useful for common repairs if you want to find out the rules of a neighbour's flat.
Problems with title deeds
If there are gaps in your title deeds, you must follow the guidance in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 for that particular case only.
For example, if your building needs a roof repair but your title deeds do not say anything about who is responsible for the roof, you must refer to the Tenements (Scotland) Act. Under the Act, the roof is a common responsibility, so all owners must share the cost of a roof repair.
In another case, your title deeds might specifically say that in your building the close and stair are the mutual responsibility of some, but not all, owners in your building. In this situation, you would refer to your title deeds rather than the Tenements Act.
Find out more information about title deeds on our website.
Download our building's rules checklist to note down what your title deeds say. This can make it easier to reference your title deeds, rather than reading the original documents every time you need them.
Podcast of the month: Housing has a new minister
In April, Paul McLennan was appointed as Scotland's new housing minister.
"My aim is for everyone to have a warm, safe, affordable home that meets their needs..." - Paul McLennan
David Bookbinder from the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations and Jane Wood from Homes for Scotland joined hosts Jimmy Black and Kieran Findlay on the Scottish Housing News Podcast to discuss what this could mean for the Scottish housing sector.
Black's Blog: A new minister… a new beginning?
Although McLennan is now the dedicated housing minister, there remains at least five ministers and five cabinet secretaries across five departments covering areas relevant to housing.
It is near impossible to have neat categories within government. But both David and Jane noted the importance for understanding and cooperation across different areas. Jane also called for greater recognition of the overlaps between the directorates, as well as the need for more data-evidenced policymaking and cross-referencing of data for the housing sector.
David suggested that the new housing minister should focus on improving the state of private and tenement housing, especially older tenements.
Training for factors
Does your factoring company need affordable training on helping clients manage common repairs, retrofit, and other tenement-related issues?
Under One Roof offers informative and interactive training sessions for property management companies and the factoring arms of social housing providers.
Our Training and Education Officer, Jacqueline Omoniyi, organises and runs bespoke training sessions which include in-depth explanations of what it means to be a factor, legislation affecting factors in Scotland, and the Factors' Code of Conduct.
Sessions are interactive, with the opportunity for questions and answers about the issues your factoring company faces day-to-day, and can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your team, whether you manage just a few properties in one area or buildings throughout Scotland.
Get in touch to find out more by contacting our training officer at [email protected].
Conservation and Adaptation Consultation: Share your views with City of Edinburgh Council
The City of Edinburgh Council is calling for residents who live in listed buildings and/or conservation areas to share their experiences of trying to maintain, repair, and adapt their properties.
The Scottish Government declared a climate emergency in 2019. Since then, many councils across Scotland have set targets in response, such as Edinburgh's aim to be net zero by 2030. As part of this target, the City of Edinburgh Council is focusing on improving the insulation and energy efficiency of all homes.
The Council recognises that it can be challenging to make these changes to listed buildings or conservation areas, which they have a statutory duty to protect.
To better understand these challenges and improve energy efficiency in homes, the Council have launched the Conservation and Adaptation Consultation.
The Council want to hear from residents in listed buildings and/or conservation areas to inform discussions for a short-term working group to find solutions to the challenges of adapting such homes and areas.
Find out if you live in a listed building or conservation area in Edinburgh.
??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.