Buying a top floor flat in Edinburgh

kimoen

Hi all,

I am a first time buyer, interested in purchasing a top floor tenement flat in Edinburgh.

The only thing putting me off is the cost of roof repairs. The Home Report rated the roof as a 2 (requiring future attention), and a more in depth roof survey quoted around £9,000 of repairs needed.

If split between all flats, this outlay becomes more than reasonable; though I fear not all flats will share our motivation in having it fixed, and we end up suffering down the line.

Is there anything we can do to ensure the repairs are carried out (at fair costs to all concerned), or would we be better of steering clear of top floor properties for this reason?

googler

You need to read up on the common repair/statutory repair scandal that hit the council's housing dept a year or so back, and determine what the current situation is, whether or not grants are being awarded at the moment or not.

If you can't progress repairs, it'll be your flat that suffers, your belongings that get wet, not the neighbours' ....

I_have_spoken

Yep, I know a flat owner in Scotland who has leaking windows, but none of the owners in the building can proceed with renewal as one old fool refuses.

sleepless_saver

If the roof already needs repairing, think about buying something else. See warning in link. http://www.scotsman.com/news/home-buyers-warned-of-top-floor-flat-repair-threat-1-2881453

BigAunty

Do you have a Factor or is it a self factored property? Speak to the Factor about your concerns to see what options they suggest. If there isn't a proper Tenement Management Scheme (self factoring in place) it could be an indicator that the owners are apathetic about being organised and indifferent to repairs.

Shelter Scotland website contains information about how to enforce non-compliance of payment by other owners which may require you to take them to the Sheriff court and perhaps enforce it with a Note of Liability.

We had stingy owners in a previous property and when we moved from self factoring to appointing a Factor (because I ended up doing most of the management of it and got sick of the moaning and lack of help from others), our new Factors put some kind of note against the Deeds of a non-paying flat (Deed of Liability?) that meant if it was sold within 5 years, the buyer or seller would have to cough up or the sale couldn't proceed. That stingy owner got his flat repossessed and whoever bought it at auction paid the balance.

orangeslimes

Have you tried speaking to the neighbours? Finding out how many of them are owner/occupiers and how many are tenants might be helpful too. Does the stair seem well looked after and maintained?