Question reference: S4W-04034
- Asked by: Derek Mackay, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 14 November 2011
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 23 November 2011
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what rights occupiers have in relation to absentee landlords in cases where communal repairs are required to properties.
Answer
All owners of tenements have a duty under section eight of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 to maintain the support and shelter of the tenement. Other owners may enforce this duty collectively or individually through the courts.
If owners cannot be traced, the local authority may be able to help. All local authorities have powers to require owners to carry out work that is needed to bring a house into, or to keep it in, a reasonable state of repair. Local authorities also have statutory powers to obtain information about absent owners and may already hold the information in connection with their landlord registration functions.