Improving tenement maintenance is key to helping Scotland to reach its Net Zero goals
In the third of our ‘Joining the Dots’ series exploring the interconnected nature of policy agendas for Scotland’s built environment, Mike Heffron, Chief Executive Officer at Under One Roof, discusses the role of good maintenance of Scotland’s tenements as a key part of Scottish Net Zero goals, alongside a review of the Tenement Maintenance Working Group’s advocacy.
Tenements make up approximately 40 per cent of Scotland’s housing stock, and there are over half a million tenement property owners across the country. Tenements are a unique feature of Scotland’s urban landscape, and what happens in them impacts our communities. According to a Scottish Government report on the provision of Building Reserve Funds, 53% of people, both renters and tenement owners, wish that more was done to maintain the tenement they live in.
According to the latest Scottish Housing Survey results published in 2023, 45% of all properties in Scotland had disrepair which impacted their watertightness or structural stability. This tells us that Scotland’s tenements are in urgent need of maintenance, and the people who live in them need assistance to achieve even a basic standard of a warm, waterproof home.
When homes are in a poor state of repair, they become energy inefficient. A home with rotting windows, damaged stonework and damp lofts takes much more energy to heat than a home which is watertight and in good repair. This is why the poor state of many of Scotland’s tenement properties will make it harder for us to reach our Net Zero carbon emissions targets by 2045.
In a recent feasibility study, carried out in partnership with Loco Homes, we studied the options for retrofit of a typical tenement building in Dennistoun, Glasgow. Retrofit differs from maintenance in that it involves fitting new, energy efficient heating systems and insulation in traditional homes, while maintenance work consists only of looking after the current features of the building. However, in our study we found that before the retrofit could even begin, significant maintenance work was required on the flat to make it watertight.
There is little point in retrofitting a traditional tenement building with a modern, zero carbon heating system, if the heat is still leaking out from poorly maintained walls, roofs and windows. Maintenance of our tenements must be one of the Scottish Government’s priorities as it aims for Net Zero.
Good maintenance of Scotland’s tenements requires hard work and collaboration between owners, factors, local authorities and the Scottish Government. Typical barriers to good maintenance include property owners’ lack of knowledge of how to approach common repairs, limited finances to pay for repairs, and frustrations or lack of communication between neighbours, factors and local authorities.
The Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenements has made several recommendations to the Scottish Government on how they could create a supportive environment for tenement maintenance and repair. We have endorsed mandatory homeowners’ associations as a solution for poor communication between owners, as they lead to improved communication and faster decision-making in discussions about maintenance and repair. Making owners’ associations compulsory for tenements will bring Scotland in line with most of the rest of the world, and will make it easier for owners to keep their buildings in good repair. We also endorse mandatory building reserve funds, which would oblige homeowners to save together, in small, regular increments, for important repairs.
We also recommend that tenement owners should not be shouldering the cost of long overdue maintenance work alone. Rather, the Scottish Government should consider introducing property-linked, publicly supported loans for tenement owners. These could be administered by each local authority in a similar fashion to Council Tax, because the loan would stay with the property rather than with the owner. This would give homeowners the financial support they need to keep their properties warm and watertight, a key consideration in the journey towards Net Zero.
The importance of keeping Scotland’s tenements in good repair, and supporting maintenance work, cannot be overstated. Good maintenance is crucial to maintain the unique aesthetic and culture of Scotland’s towns and cities. It is vital for ensuring that the people who live in tenements have safe, warm homes. It also plays an essential role in improving energy efficiency, decarbonising our homes and reducing the harms of climate change. It is the first step in the retrofitting process. This is why the Scottish Government’s approach to decarbonisation must make tenement maintenance a key priority.
Mike Heffron is the Chief Executive Officer at Under One Roof. He is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the organisation as well as finance, fundraising, and team leadership. BEFS Members Under One Roof is Scotland’s only charity committed to providing free and impartial information on repairs, maintenance, and retrofit for tenement flat owner-occupiers, landlords, and housing professionals in Scotland. The Under One Roof website hosts a wealth of information, with over 200 articles that cover a wide range of topics related to tenement maintenance and management. Their website also has an enquiry service which enables owner-occupiers, landlords, housing professionals, or local authority staff to receive tailored answers to specific queries. Under One Roof and BEFS provide co-secretariat for the Tenement Maintenance Working Group.
This blog is part of BEFS ‘Joining the Dots’ series exploring interconnected policy areas. See the first blog for an introduction to the series.
Get in touch – to find out more about BEFS work or to discuss a particular topic or policy area email us at info@befs.org.uk or contact the Team.
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