Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee 18 March 2025
The meeting has been very interesting so far. Before I ask about Awaab’s law, I note that we have had some discussion already about the need to look at buildings as a whole. Shona Gorman mentioned guttering, which sounds dull but is actually not: it is so important. One flat that I rented in Edinburgh was a top-floor flat. I could see the gutters from my window and they were never cleaned, which I knew was just storing up problems.
If I can blow my own trumpet and that of some other MSPs, I note that in the previous session of the Parliament we formed what is still known as the tenement maintenance working group. The idea was that a lot of the problems that we have in flatted properties in Scotland result from their not being properly maintained. We thought then, and still do, that there is an issue around tenement law and that things really need to be done.
We have produced a report. There were recommendations in it—one of which was that there should be regular inspections of properties. The issue is now sitting with the Scottish Law Commission, and we are likely to see proposals from it in the next session of the Parliament.
Shona, perhaps I can come to you because you mentioned gutters. We are not just talking about people in rented properties, are we? We are talking about private homeowners as well, and we need to look at properties in the round.