The Repairing Standard and Upcoming Changes

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring our existing and potential customers are kept fully informed of all property related matters, we thought the upcoming changes to the Repairing Standard legislation was of interest.  Whilst not directly related to the role we play, other than a requirement for us to have an understanding of how these changes may affect certain homeowners’ obligations over common areas of buildings,  we expect the following information from Under One Roof will be of assistance to many Scottish homeowners.

In March 2023, the Scottish Government announced a series of updates to the existing Repairing Standard that will be enforceable from 1^st March 2024. The Repairing Standard covers the legal and contractual obligations of private landlords to ensure their property or properties meet the minimum physical standard of repair.
Landlords, letting agents and factors should be aware of these upcoming changes, especially those concerning the common areas of buildings, which will require co-operation and consent from homeowners to achieve.

Here is an extract of the updates:

• Safe kitchens: there must be safe and accessible food storage and preparation space in every rented property.
• Fixed heating system: properties must have a plumbed or mains-wired fixed heating system.
• Safe access to common parts: tenants must be able to safely access and use common parts of tenement flats, such as the close and stairs.
• Consent to work on common parts: a property will no longer fail to meet the Repairing Standard if common repairs, previously needed to comply with the standard, cannot be carried out due to a lack of majority owners consenting to the work.
• Safe and secure common doors: common doors must have secure and satisfactory locks – tenants must be able to open common doors from the inside without a key to make exit in the event of a fire easier.
• Residual current devices: the supply of electricity must be in working order and must have one or more residual current devices fitted – this device breaks the circuit in the event of a fault, reducing the risk of electrocution and fire.
• Other fuels: the existing duty states that installations for the supply of gas and electricity must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order. This will be extended to include installations which use any other type of fuel, such as oil, LPG, coal, wood or biomass.

Notably, the updates regarding safe access to common parts, and safe and secure common doors, are specific to properties which are flats in tenement buildings. It is important that landlords of such properties and their factors are aware of these changes as collaboration will be required to ensure compliance.

Safe access to common parts

Currently, the Repairing Standard states that the structure and exterior of a privately rented property must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order. This will be amended to specify that where a privately rented property is a flat in a tenement, the tenant must be able to safely access and use any common parts of the tenement, such as common closes. This also includes access to the property, common stairs, common lifts, bin stores and drying areas.

To comply with this, there must be:

• adequate lighting, so that tenants are not at risk of falling or of criminal attack;
• paths and ramps which are safe underfoot;
• common spaces which are kept clear of obstructions that would affect their use or impede evacuation in the event of fire;
• common spaces that are kept reasonably clean and tidy;
• and any mechanical component required to make use of the space must be in good working order.

Safe and secure common doors

Additionally, the updates state that common doors must be secure and fitted with satisfactory locks. This will be supported by Scottish Government guidance which will specify that locks must allow users to open them from the inside without a key so that they do not inhibit exit in the event of a fire.

All common doors must be lockable, and the common front door must have a secure entry system that:

1. informs the tenant when a visitor or delivery has arrived;
2. allows the tenant to open the common front door remotely.

A secure entry system is not required for a block of three or fewer flats where all occupiers have easy sight of or close access to the common front door.

Common front doors must have:

• mortice locks (any number of levers); rim-type deadlocks; Yale locks; key-operated multi-point locks; OR electronic/magnetic locks.

locks of the same type as required for common front doors; OR one or more substantial bolts secured from the inside.

To meet the requirement for emergency exit, the landlord must ensure that the type of emergency exit locks fitted allow tenants to open them from the inside without a key, so that they do not inhibit exit in the event of a fire.

Consent to work on common parts
Another update that concerns landlords of tenement flats, as well as factors involved in tenement properties, is that a property will not fail the Repairing Standard if work otherwise needed to comply cannot be carried out because a majority of owners in the tenement have refused consent to carry out the work. Getting homeowners to agree to common repairs can be challenging, so knowing that compliance with the Repairing Standard won’t be affected where it’s proving difficult to achieve majority consent will be welcome.

How to prepare

Here are some top tips to get prepared for the updates.

1. Carry out regular checks of the building’s common areas to assess its level of compliance and determine whether work is required. Landlords should inform their factor of any work required to comply with the upcoming changes and assist them in encouraging their neighbours to engage with any repairs required.
2. Landlords are encouraged to
3. Reviewing the title deeds of the property will be helpful to understand the building’s rules and responsibilities as well as what is common property, how decisions are to be made and, importantly, the share split of costs. If the title deeds are silent or unworkable, homeowners should refer to The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 for guidance.

All tenement flat homeowners have maintenance obligations to keep their tenement building in reasonable condition. Understanding the proper procedures to follow when it comes to organising common repairs, which include informing other owners, reaching decisions and paying the correct share for work carried out, is imperative to achieving a safe and sustainable building and compliance with the Repairing Standard.

For more articles like this and other information on tenement maintenance and repair management visit the Under One Roof website. Under One Roof is Scotland’s only charity committed to providing free and impartial information to landlords, owner-occupiers and housing professionals on tenement maintenance and repair management.