Maintenance Orders
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What is a Maintenance Order?
It is the responsibility of the owners in a property to co-ordinate in maintaining the fabric of the building to a reasonable standard.
Where this is not happening voluntarily, Section 42 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 allows for the serving of a Maintenance Order by the Local Authority.
The purpose of Maintenance Orders is to ensure that properties in private ownership are properly maintained by introducing a regime of maintenance arrangements that will result in defects being identified at an early stage allowing timely and cost-effective repairs to be carried out.
Why have I received a Maintenance Order?
Maintenance Orders are served on an owner when the Council feels that a property is not currently being maintained to a reasonable standard.
The Council may also consider that the owner is unlikely to maintain the property to a reasonable standard in the future, especially if it is felt that the benefit of works carried out under a Works Notice have been reduced or may be lost due to poor maintenance.
What do I do?
The Maintenance Order requires you to prepare and submit a Maintenance Plan to the Council by the date specified within the Order.
The Maintenance Plan is required to set out:
- all required items of maintenance/inspection
- when any inspections or work are to take place
- an estimate of the likely costs
To assist with the preparation of a Maintenance Plan the Council have prepared a basic template:
If the submitted Maintenance Plan is not acceptable, or if no submission is made, then the council can prepare their own plan which you will be required to follow.
Joint Maintenance Plans
If you live in a tenement then all the other owners in your close will also have received a Maintenance Order and you must all work together to prepare and submit a joint Maintenance Plan.
If no Property Manager is in place then you may wish to consider appointing one to help prepare and implement the Maintenance Plan.
The Maintenance Plan needs to be acceptable to the majority of applicable owners. The plan must also correctly apportion the liability of each joint owner in respect of the cost of implementing the plan.
You will be able to get details of the shares from your title deeds.
Can I appeal this?
Owners can appeal to the sheriff against the decision
- to serve a Maintenance Order
- to approve or reject a Maintenance Plan
- to vary or revoke a maintenance plan
Any appeal must be made to the sheriff within 21 days of the notice being served. If you do so the local authority cannot take any action to enforce the notice until the appeal has been decided.
If you want to make an appeal, you should seek legal advice immediately.
What happens if you ignore a Maintenance Order?
If an acceptable plan is not submitted or an approved plan is not fully implemented, then the Council can put their own plan in place and enforce any necessary work.
Any cost incurred by the Council in enforcing these works will be recoverable from the owners.
Useful Information
Owners may wish to appoint a Property Manager or a Housing Association to take on responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the Maintenance Plan:
Owners may also wish to appoint a surveyor to complete the Maintenance Plan:
- Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Scotland)
- The book " The Tenement Handbook - A Practical Guide to Living in a Tenement" is also full of useful information
For more information, please contact:
Housing & Regeneration Services
Glasgow City Council
231 George Street
Glasgow G1 1RX
Related Content
Links
- Property Managers Association Scotland
- Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
- Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Scotland)
- The Tenement Handbook
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