Council tenants in flats and maisonettes received a boost this week, after the Council agreed a new strategy to speed up and simplify repair and maintenance works, especially in blocks where some properties are privately owned.
Since the 'Right to Buy' scheme was introduced in 1981, South Ayrshire Council has sold over 11,000 properties to sitting tenants.
This has created blocks of flats and maisonettes, where the dwellings are owned privately and by the Council. In some of these mixed tenure buildings improvement, repair and maintenance works had become difficult to schedule, because agreement from all private owners was required before they could start.
The situation was further complicated by the legal requirement for all local authority homes to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) by 2015. In South Ayrshire almost 60% of properties are at the required level.
Councillor Douglas Campbell, the Council's Portfolio Holder for Housing explained: "To meet the SHQS, many of the works we need to carry out are improvements in communal areas and to the exterior of buildings.
"Examples include replacing secure entry doors and door entry systems, re-cladding the external walls and fitting insulation. These are not classed as essential repairs, otherwise we could instruct them to be done quite quickly, but we still need to complete them."
Often, the Council requires full agreement from all the private owners in a block and that can be very difficult and time consuming, especially if there is a cost to them.
The new strategy aims to simplify the situation.
Councillor Campbell continued: "When title deeds for properties do not make allowance for specific types of work to be carried out, work can be instructed by any owner, or the Council, as long as the majority agree to it being carried out.
"Where the Council has majority ownership in a mixed tenure block, it is proposed that the Council will instruct works. Advice and information will be offered to home owners to assist them in this process and we'll be rolling out a wide range of resources to help support this, all of which will be in place for October 2012.
Extensive consultation has already been carried out with residents, South Ayrshire landlords and the South Ayrshire Equality Partnership to agree the remit and scope of the strategy.
An options appraisal, looking at the risks and consequences of not adopting an owner engagement strategy was also considered.
Councillor Campbell concluded: "Our aim is to support owner involvement in repairs and improvements, in order to meet our obligation of having every home at the SHQS for 2015.
"We are absolutely committed to working and engaging with private owners in mixed tenure housing in order to make our homes better.
"We will offer comprehensive support, clear advice and a range of information on how we can all undertake improvements, repairs and maintenance, ensuring we all enjoy high quality housing that's fully fit for our families, our residents and the 21st century."