UNDER ONE ROOF Helps With Flat Owners & Their Problems

Sooner or later, every organisation working in an urban environment of any size will need to work with flat owners and help them resolve legal and maintenance issues. Over 40% of our housing stock is formed of privately owned and rented flats (so that is not counting council and housing association rented flats). And the proportion of communally owned properties is particularly high in Scottish town centres from north to south, ranging from older tenements to mixed use developments and homes over shops

Under One Roof Scotland is a major new online resource about tenements and flats of all kinds in Scotland.  Tackling management, repairs and maintenance, Under One Roof Scotland can help organisations raise awareness about the need for maintenance and advise owners on how to deal with their co-owners, organise repairs and manage builders.

As a BEFS member, you can use Under One Roof Scotland to:

• Keep yourself up to date on “flat” issues by signing up to our occasional newsletters.
• Raise awareness of the need to maintain our tenement heritage by displaying the poster, linking your website to Under One Roof Scotland and writing about tenement repair issues in your own communications.
• Use the ready-made presentations to train your staff and colleagues in the particular issues affecting stone buildings and the law of the tenement.
• Provide a second opinion, backing up your own communications.

Under One Roof Scotland was launched by The RIAS as part of the Festival of Architecture 2016. The need for such a resource was first pointed out by Glasgow’s Factoring Commission which both recognised the changing nature of flat ownership and the need to develop a maintenance culture whilst understanding how difficult it was for owners to identify their rights and responsibilities. Glasgow City Council picked up on the recommendations of the report and helped promote Under One Roof Scotland through local authorities, over 90% of whom have provided funding. Private factors such as Hacking and Paterson and Your Place also contributed funding individually while organisations such as Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations and the Property Managers Association Scotland also contributed and offered practical support.

Written by Annie Flint and John Gilbert, the   originally published by the RIAS over 20 years ago, the site contains over 100 articles on flat owners’ legal responsibilities towards their co-owners and over 70 technical information articles with 100 specially commissioned drawings, 200 photographs and 9 power point style presentations to use at owners meetings

There is also a Repair Symptoms Checkerto help owners pin down what is affecting their building’s health. Downloadable model letters will make the whole process easier for owners. Advice on dealing with owners who refuse to participate in critical repairs is also provided. Have a quick explore!

• Try the Repair Checker to pin down that problem with the building over the road
• Check out Owners and Obligations to find out about the legal “duty to maintain”
• Run through the Meeting Presentations such as “Financing Repairs”
• Download the  A4 Poster and pin it up in reception (and in the entrance to your own tenement!)
• Find out more about our Funders and Steering Group Membership

Graphic Resources

Please feel free to use any of the graphics on this Dropbox page.  Other resources on the website can be copied freely for non-commercial purposes.

Contact

Please email annie@underoneroof.scot for further access to resources and assistance with organising, or speaking at training and awareness sessions.

Annie Flint

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