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SGA5/24-10-02
Housing Improvement Task Force
Second Stage
Sub group A
Improvement and maintenance of owner-occupied houses and flats
Eleventh meeting
24 October 2002
Advice and information to owners, landlords and tenants
Introduction
1. Each of the sub groups has identified issues around advice and information, all of which
largely focus on the failure of individuals to seek or gain access to what they need.
Whilst these broad issues are common, in varying degrees, to all the sub groups, the
particular information needs for each will not always be the same. Particular information
requirements that have been identified are:
Assessment of the current condition of a property
Space and accessibility
Energy efficiency
Advice on maintenance, e.g. recommended routine maintenance, preventing unexpected
major repairs, finding reliable tradesmen, contracting to get work done, etc.
Common maintenance obligations
Sources of assistance (incl. financial assistance)
Landlords’ repairing obligations and tenants’ rights
Buying and selling procedures and costs
Particular help for e.g. the elderly, the physically or mentally disabled, those with
learning difficulties or otherwise vulnerable persons
Consumer protection and redress
The needs of certain minority groups, especially those from minority ethnic communities.
Existing information services
2. Communities Scotland’s ‘Homepoint’ service already exists to provide a range of
information and to develop and support a network of housing advice providers. Working
with various advice providers, local authorities and housing interest groups, its activities
include promoting its Scottish National Standards and Good Practice for Housing
Information Services, developing training materials and an accreditation system for
providers and otherwise striving to improve the breadth and quality of housing
information available to the public.
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3. Homepoint also produces and/or provides printed information to the public covering a
wide range of topics, a list of current publications being included as an appendix.
Depending on the subject, these are distributed through e.g. CABx, local authorities,
solicitors and property centres, lenders, surveyors, letting agents, and the Stationary
Office. Homepoint also has a web site that lists the publications (and has on-line links to
some), and has links to information on a range of topics and to other organisations and
sources of information, e.g. local authority housing guides. It also advertises some of its
publications through its newsletter, in the property press or at conferences.
4. There is also a vast range of additional written and face-to-face advice offered by the
public, private and voluntary sectors, covering virtually all areas in which the Task Force
has an intrest. Homepoint’s view is that there is no shortage of published or web-based
information, but that owners are not always accessing it at the right time or are sometimes
overwhelmed by the amount of it, so that they cannot readily find what they need.
5. Whilst it might be argued that more is better, there is thus a risk of information overload
and, more importantly, that not all information is accurate and up to date. It is impossible
to control the production of all written, web-based or direct advice, but it is certainly
beneficial to pursue good standards and coherence of information supplied.
Information and advice within the Task Force context
6. A major aim of the Task Force’s work is to encourage a move away from the crisis
management approach to problems with the fabric of houses, and to promote a
widespread recognition that property maintenance should be a continuous process that
will prove beneficial in the long term. It follows that having advice available is not in
itself the answer, but needs to be supported by a culture change that will persuade owners
to take this more considered approach.
7. In practice, the best a solution to a particular information problem may lie within a sub
group’s consideration of the related “process” or key issue. Thus some of the information
needs noted above will be met through the groups’ recommendations on the key issues.
8. It is suggested that when considering the broad issues of information and advice, the Task
Force should consider whether its recommendations comply with certain principles,
namely that recommendations on particular issues should also aim where possible to:
Help fill particular perceived gaps in the current provision of information/advice
Promote the availability and accessibility of advice at a point when it is most useful
Encourage the longer term cultural shift towards continuous maintenance
Support the work of Homepoint in promoting good housing advice services to the public
Developments in the sub groups
9. There follows a brief outline of the sub groups’ main areas of activity and how these are
likely to impact on the advice/information issues.
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Sub group A
10. Sub group A has looked in detail at ways of encouraging existing owners to take
responsibility for and to organise common repairs, at enhancing the powers available to
local authorities to enforce repairs and at improvements to the forms of assistance
(including advice) available to owners. If legislative and other changes develop out of the
group’s recommendations, then there would also be an opportunity to publicise these new
measures and to “raise the profile” of repair and maintenance issues generally, perhaps
through e.g. a national publicity campaign to coincide with the introduction of new forms
of assistance or promotion of existing published advice such as HomePointer 26 How Fit
is your House?
11. With regard to the needs of vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, the group has already
considered the option for extending the scope and operation of the current Care and
Repair schemes that operate in various local authority regions. The issue here goes
beyond that of advice, since the schemes offer practical assistance in arranging for the
necessary work, obtaining loans where necessary, etc.
Sub group B
12. Sub group B is considering how to improve the information to buyers on the condition of
the property, including options around the use of a “single survey” and possible
enhancements to the existing Scheme 2 report (including information on disabled access
and energy efficiency).
13. Th group is also looking at ways of encouraging owners to take more interest in the likely
long term maintenance needs of the property they are interested in. It will always be
difficult to generate serious interest in this issue during the initial excitement of buying
and moving but the point of purchase must surely provide an opportunity for buyers to be
supplied with information that they might productively use once they were in their new
homes.
14. It is considering the merits of promoting the use of a “purchaser’s information pack” that
would be available to prospective purchasers of a property, including Right to Buy
purchasers. It would include information on the common repair obligations within the
titles and any existing mechanisms for management/factoring of the common areas.
15. It is also considering the same issue in respect of some new build developments, where
purchasers are encouraged to “sign up” for a property before the common maintenance
obligations and arrangements are known.
16. In terms of advice services generally, the group recognises that buyers have most direct
contact with, and generally express confidence in the advice given by, their solicitor. It
follows that this relationship offers perhaps the best opportunity to enhance the provision
of information and the group has recently co-opted a member of the Law Society’s
Conveyancing Committee to better explore this opportunity.
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Sub group C
17. Sub group C has developed a number of recommendations designed to clarify the law
regarding landlords’ repairing obligations and tenants’ rights and to allow a clear route
for tenants to pursue enforcement where landlords appear to have failed to meet their
obligations. One key to making this approach work is that tenancy agreements should
contain a clear statement of a landlord’s statutory obligations and of the tenant’s rights,
which act to clarify the position for both landlord and tenant within a document that there
is generally an obligation to provide.
18. It is also worth noting that sub group C is likely to make recommendations about landlord
accreditation and/or licensing schemes, an aspect of which would include provision of
comprehensive information to tenants.
Conclusion
19. Given that the work of the sub groups continues and that full range of final
recommendations from each have not yet emerged, members are asked to comment on
and approve the principles governing the Task Force’s approach to information and
advice, and to authorise the Secretariat to audit the final recommendations to ensure that
they address, where possible, particular advice needs or support the broad principals in
each area.
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Appendix
Current list of publications offered by Homepoint
HomePointer 1 The Right to Compensation for Improvements
HomePointer 2 Personal Housing Plans: A Technique
HomePointer 3 Private Landlords and Tenants: Troubleshooting Guide
HomePointer 4 National Standards and Good Practice Manual
HomePointer 5 Access to Housing in Scotland: Rights for Disabled People
HomePointer 5 Addendum: Access to Housing in Scotland: Rights for Disabled People
HomePointer 6 Energy Saving: Good Practice in Shetland
HomePointer 7 A Study of Crofter Housing
HomePointer 8 Local Housing Information and Advice Strategies: A Good Practice Guide
HomePointer 9 Finding Funding
HomePointer 10 Joining the Electronic Network
HomePointer 11 Training Packs
HomePointer 12 The Scottish Directory of Housing Information and Advice Providers
HomePointer 13 Personal Housing Plans for People with Physical Disabilities
HomePointer 14 Energy Efficiency in the Home the NHER Level 0 Energy Module
HomePointer 15 Homes and Jobs: An Information Model for Mull and Iona
HomePointer 16 Doorways An Integrated Referral Scheme for Accommodation for Young
Single Homeless People
HomePointer 17 Meeting Housing Costs: A Guide for People with Disabilities
HomePointer 18 Scottish Housing Advisers? Guide to Benefits for People with Disabilities
HomePointer 19 Energy Campaigning that Works
HomePointer 20 Relationship Breakdown and Housing Rights
HomePointer 21 Scottish Housing Associations: Their Role in the Competitive Domestic
Fuel Market
HomePointer 22 Access to Housing in Scotland: Rights for Disabled People
HomePointer 23 Using Trained Volunteers in Giving Energy Advice
HomePointer 24 Evaluation Explained
HomePointer 25 Access to Housing in Scotland: Rights for Disabled People Advisers Guide
HomePointer 26 How Fit is Your House £5
HomePointer 27 The National Standards for Housing Information and Advice Providers in
Scotland.
HomePointer 28 How to Buy a Home in Scotland
HomePointer 29 Personal Housing Planning: What, Who and How?
HomePointer 30 Guide to Housing Options in Scotland
Homepointer 31 At Home: A guide for young people preparing for a new tenancy
HomePointer 32 Private Tenants Guide
HomePoint Grants leaflet
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