PMAS among members of the Working Group commended for their efforts and the production of the report.

The Scottish Government has recently responded to the final report from the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on tenement maintenance, which outlined several recommendations to improve the state of Scotland’s tenement properties and introduce new legislation.

This group, comprised of MSPs from all parties and sector experts, has been meeting since March 2018 with the intent of establishing solutions that will urge tenement owners to better maintain their buildings while also assisting them with maintenance.

The Working Group published its interim recommendations report in January 2019, which was followed by a formal discussion of the public and stakeholder feedback received through consultation.

The final report, released in May 2019, recommended that mandatory Owners Associations, Building Surveys and Building Reserve Funds are established to aid in tenement maintenance. The Scottish Law Commission will be asked to carry out a law reform project and provide a report with recommendations and a draft Bill that would implement the reforms. Ongoing fire safety and energy efficiency considerations will also be included as part of this engagement.

The Scottish Government has agreed that “action is needed to improve the condition of our tenements to ensure that our buildings can provide good quality, safe and sustainable homes in the future.” However, they have stated that further research is needed to determine how some of the recommendations made in the report can be implemented in practice. You can read the full Government response here.

This is terrific progress. PMAS has been involved with the Working Group since its inception and has helped to deliver these reports alongside representatives from other organisations within the housing industry.

PMAS is delighted with the Government’s commitment to acting on the recommendations outlined in the report and we look forward to seeing progress made towards these essential changes to tenement maintenance.