Meeting of the Parliament 09 January 2014
I join colleagues across the chamber in thanking those who submitted evidence during the review of the practical operation of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 and in thanking the clerks for their work during the course of the inquiry.
A decade on, it is important to consider whether the act is really working for consumers and whether home owners are sufficiently able to appoint or dismiss traditional property factors or enter into meaningful discussions with landowning maintenance companies. That is essential if we are to preserve the integrity of those relationships and, in turn, the integrity of the buildings or open spaces concerned.
The committee has identified a number of areas in which the act has arguably fallen short of expectations. For example, it has been criticised for being complex, incomprehensible or impractical for home owners who want to exercise their right to switch property factors.
The committee concluded that more could be done to foster a culture of common maintenance and tackle home owner apathy through education and the formation of residents associations. That would help to preserve and enhance the quality of our housing stock, and I welcome the Government’s commitment to produce guidance on that.
In the limited time that I have, I would like to highlight the need to further consider the relationship between home owners—most commonly in modern private developments—developers, councils and landowning property maintenance companies. I expect that the majority of MSPs, if not all, have been contacted by constituents who have experienced difficulties with businesses operating in this area. It is certainly an issue in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
There are cases where residents believe that the maintenance of communal areas has not occurred for months or even years; cases where residents are pursued for payment for work that they believe has not taken place; and cases where residents are faced with what they deem to be unjustified rises in management charges.
I have long been concerned that there seems to be insufficient means of redress for home owners who are dissatisfied with the standard of service that is provided. They are often left feeling helpless and bound to a company against their will. It strikes me as perverse that those who have the foremost interest in the condition of those spaces too often have no opportunity to influence or contribute meaningfully to their management.
I appreciate that the situation appears to have improved in recent years, as the committee acknowledged in its report, but there still seems to be no mechanism for dealing with disputes about charges, and in reality there is no option for people to change their provider if the service falls short of expectations.
The committee suggested that a mediation service could be set up to assist with bill disputes, and that the Office of Fair Trading may wish to re-examine the market. Those suggestions are worthy of serious consideration, and I am a bit disappointed at the Government’s response, which suggests that little progress will be made in either of those areas despite the fact that the committee has deemed them a priority.
The decision by local authorities to transfer the burden of responsibility for the maintenance of communal areas is a pragmatic response to limited budgets, among other pressures, but they must retain a long-term interest in the condition of communal space. Maintenance of public open space is of a different order—as it is of community benefit—to the maintenance of shared private interests such as roofs or stairwells.
I urge local authorities and the Government to heed recommendation 8 in our report, and to use the levers at their disposal to ensure that land maintenance arrangements are fair and sustainable. That will help to promote good relations and allow urban green spaces and amenity lands such as play parks to be cherished, as we know how valuable those are for the whole community in boosting physical activity and mental health, attracting investment and creating places where people want to live. We must also remember the practical considerations, such as the fact that, in this day and age, those spaces may provide sustainable urban drainage schemes, and the failure of SUDS schemes will have a wider community interest that goes beyond particular private owners.