We will often contact other owners within blocks of flats in which we both also own properties about repairs or improvement works.
When the council does this it is not acting as a factor but simply as an owner of another flat that has responsibility in the same way as all other owners for the upkeep and maintenance of common elements of the block of flats.
Owners' title deeds usually say that they are responsible for the upkeep of a number of common elements of their block of flats. These generally include:
- external walls
- roofs and gutters
- close areas including lighting
- drains
- common garden areas including paths, fences and walls
Most title deeds of previously council-owned flats say that all owners in the block have equal rights and responsibilities for the upkeep of these common elements. This means any owner, not only the council, has the right to contact all other owners about carrying out works to these common elements of their block.
For owners in four-in-a-blocks, sometimes each owner is only responsible for their half of the block or sometimes all four owners are equally for the external walls and roof of the full block. Owners would need to check their title deeds to see what applies to their property.
There would generally be two different types of works any owner may wish to contact other owners in a block about carrying out. These would be:
- Fixing a specific problem such as a repair to the walls/roof. To do this, an owner may consider the only way to fix a problem might be to fully replace an item if they feel it can’t be repaired.
- Works that are not fixing a specific problem but could still be seen as a benefit to all residents in a block. This could include wanting to paint a common fence, putting up an extra security light through to wanting to replace the outside wall finish to make the building look better.
Owners are responsible for their share of the costs of work to the common elements. If there were six properties in a block of flats, any owner of a flat would generally be responsible for 1/6th of the cost of work to the common elements. If the council owns one property in such a a block, it would therefore be responsible for 1/6th of the cost of the works with all other owners required to pay the rest of the cost of any works.
Any owner wanting to propose works should gather quotes from contractors to carry out the works. Once the quotes were available, all other owners in the block should be contacted providing them with the quotes, information on the works and how much they would cost each owner. It would usually be advised to collect at least two or three quotes to provide to other owners, including the council as another owner in the block. All owners would then consider the works and the quotes and whether they wanted to agree to them being carried out an paying their share of the costs of the works.
Where works were considered to be an emergency, for example a burst pipe or protection due to severe storm damage, there may not be time to gather a number of quotes. In such circumstances, one owner may require to carry out the works and then contact the other owners for payment of their share of the cost of the emergency work. If one owner does this, there are special rules about what they need to do immediately after the emergency works are carried out in terms of contacting the other owners asking them to pay their share of the cost of such work.
When looking to gather quotes, an owner should consider the following:
- Quotes should be on company headed notepaper including whether a contractor is VAT registered. If VAT registered, quotes should include VAT registration numbers.
- Details of what works are to be undertaken and the materials to be used.
- Where the council would require to pay its share of the cost of any proposed works, it requires any contractor to be registered with HMRC’s Construction Industry Scheme and able provide their UTR (Unique Tax Reference), partnership UTR or national insurance number if a sole trader. If an invoice was submitted to the council, we would have to contact HMRC to establish what terms the contractor is to be paid, for example gross or net of tax from the labour element of an invoice.
If an owner’s quotation for work was accepted by the other owners in a block, they would then be responsible for all aspects of progressing those works. Depending on the works and the quotations this could include:
- Signing a contract with the chosen contractor for the works
- Applying for permits for skips and/or scaffolding.
- Contacting private landlords about the works. Registered Landlords contact details are available at Landlord register home - Scottish Landlord Register (landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk)
- Contacting all other owners of the flats about elements such as where skips and scaffolding poles will be placed, access to their properties if needed.
- Any Health and Safety requirements of the organiser of the works.
- Arranging payment of the contractor for the works. It would be important when asking for quotations to confirm whether the contractor might want part payments and/or evidence that all monies have been collected from all owners ahead of any works starting.
More advice on carrying out works to blocks of flats and working with a number of different owners including draft letters for contacting other owners is available at:
