Whether it is considering introducing legislation to facilitate the maintenance of common paths and ground which local authorities have not…

The Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced on 6 June, will facilitate the maintenance of facilities such as amenity ground and paths within private housing estates where these have not been adopted by local authorities. Section 28 of the bill provides that where conditions in title deeds impose an obligation on owners within a community to maintain, or contribute towards the cost of maintaining, common property, then the owners of a majority of the properties will be able to decide that maintenance should be carried out, in circumstances where the title deeds of the properties do not provide a means for such decision making. Owners will also be able to instruct or carry out such maintenance. Each owner may be required to deposit a sum of money which is that owner's apportioned share of a reasonable estimate of the cost of maintenance. For the purposes of the bill, a "community" is the collective term for those properties which are all subject to the same obligation imposed in their respective title deeds and which can also enforce it: this is sometimes known as a "common scheme".This is an important reform which will allow a great deal of essential maintenance work to be carried out. At present if title deeds do not specify any mechanism for decision making on having work carried out, then the common law demands that all owners should consent and unanimity is very often impossible to achieve.The Housing Improvement Task Force is also considering all aspects of common and shared maintenance, with a view to making property owners aware of their obligations and ensuring that effective arrangements for necessary work are in place.