Tenement Group publishes interim recommendations – we want to hear your views
A Scottish Parliament Working Group has published its interim recommendations to tackle concerns about disrepair in tenements in mixed ownership.
The report, was launched last night (Wednesday 16 Jan) at a Parliamentary reception hosted by Graham Simpson MSP, Chair of the group, where Kevin Stewart MSP, Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning also spoke welcoming the report.
Stewart said: “The maintenance of common property is an important issue and owners in tenements, both homeowners and landlords, need to fully accept their responsibilities for maintaining their property. I commend the tenement maintenance working group for bringing together MSPs from all parties and a wide range of stakeholders to produce their interim recommendations report.
“I encourage everyone with an interest in the issues raised by this report to respond to the working group’s recommendations. This government will give serious consideration to the proposals in the final report.”
The group, which has cross party membership, was set up in response to increasing concerns about disrepair in tenements in mixed ownership. The group meetings were attended by organisations with expertise in the built environment, housing and property law.
SFHA was represented on the group as we are aware that maintaining and improving mixed tenure tenements is a significant issue – the group visited tenements owned by Dunedin Canmore in Edinburgh to learn about the challenges faced by housing associations in maintaining mixed ownership tenmenets and to visit a tenement that had undergone a major refurbishment.
The interim recommendations propose a number of significant initiatives to address disrepair in mixed ownership tenements – these are
• Requirement for 5 yearly inspections of the common parts of tenements
• Mandatory requirement for owners associations to be established
• Establishment of sinking funds to provide a resources for major repairs
The report is now out for consultation. A link to the report is here.
Please email : dstewart@sfha.co.uk with any comments.