CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 27 URBAN HOUSING debate in the Scottish Parliament in January 2018 on the maintenance of tenement communal property and the challenges of getting common repairs carried out. The working group consisted of a number of MSPs and various individuals and organisations with expertise in property management and maintenance. In its final recommendations report in June 2019 the working group set out three primary recommendations for reforming the law of the tenement in order to improve matters: 1. A requirement for tenements to be subject to a building condition inspection every five years 2. The establishment of compulsory owners’ associations 3. The establishment of building reserve funds. The working group described some key features of the proposed owners’ associations: • The association would have legal personality which would allow it, among other things, to enter into contracts; this would offer greater protection for owners who might otherwise be held individually responsible for the whole group’s debts. • The association would be required to hold an annual meeting, which would prevent absent or apathetic owners holding up repairs. • The association would have the ability to control an annual repair plan and budget. • The association would be empowered to delegate certain rights and responsibilities, including the right to pursue non-paying owners, to a manager. Given the complex policy and legal issues connected to the introduction of owners’ associations (notably around the interaction of any proposed legislation with existing property titles and human rights concerns), the working group recommended that the matter be referred to the Scottish Law Commission for further consideration and development. The Scottish Law Commission (SLC) published a discussion paper in April 2024, setting out its provisional proposals for the introduction of owners’ associations. It suggests new legislative provision for the creation and enforcement of an owners’ association in every tenement. It also consults on the introduction of a new default management scheme, named the Owners’ Association Scheme, intended to replace the Tenement Management Scheme currently set out in the first schedule to the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. The paper seeks views on these proposals and a number of related questions. The responses to the consultation will be drawn on in a report accompanied by a draft bill with recommendations in the form of legislation to the Scottish Government. The SLC report and draft bill are expected in 2026. The working group of MSPs and representatives of organisations with expertise in property management and maintenance is continuing to develop proposals for the other recommendations. The overall ambition remains to bring Scotland’s tenements to an improved state of repair, if not on to a plateau of good repair. Apart from health and safety risks associated with falling masonry, any energy efficiency measures are pointless if the building is not in a good state of repair. Jocelyn Cunliffe is an advanced accredited conservation architect. She represented the RIAS on the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance, chairs the RIAS Conservation Committee and is a trustee of Under One Roof. These late-19thcentury, red-andbuff-sandstone tenements in Edinburgh, inspired by Patrick Geddes, are notable for having access from the back instead of through doors between shops. The block is in the Coltbridge and Wester Coates Conservation Area: despite that, the window alterations are dreadful. For further information on the project, see www. scotlawcom.gov.uk/ law-reform/lawreform-projects/ tenement-lawcompulsory-ownersassociations/. See also Built Environment Forum Scotland on tenement maintenance and the working groups: www.befs. org.uk/policytopics/buildingsmaintenance-2/
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