Edinburgh Shared Repairs Service (ESRS)
2.1 Overview of the service
Owning your home means you are responsible for keeping it well-maintained. Where your home is part of a building like a tenement or upper and lower villa, you and your fellow owners are also responsible for the upkeep of areas or facilities you share. Organising a shared repair from start to finish can sometimes seem complicated, particularly where a number of owners are involved.
The Edinburgh Shared Repairs Service offers free advice and information to help private owners organise repairs to the shared or common areas of your property. If you are a Council tenant, you can .
Private owners can also obtain information and advice on tenement management and repair from .
2.2 Advice and aupport provided by the Council
The Edinburgh Shared Repairs Service provides advice and guidance to help you manage the maintenance of shared areas. The service offers practical, straightforward advice to help you take a planned approach to your repairs, on everything from inspecting your building to finding a contractor and arranging payment. We can also direct you to other support services such as property factoring or mediation.
Advice is available through our website, on the phone and in person on how to:
- check your building for repairs that may be needed
- check your title deeds
- organise a stair meeting with co-owners
- set up an owners’ association or appoint a factor
- trace property owners in order to agree shared repairs
- choose a contractor
- pay for repairs
- claim payment for repairs where there are Council properties
- pay for non-engaging owners’ shares for repairs
- use the Tenement Management Scheme and Tenements (Scotland) Act when arranging shared repairs
2.3 Our emergency service
The ESRS operates a 24/7 response for emergency repairs where there is a risk to public health and safety. This could include falling slates, stones, the risk of a building collapsing or a blocked sewage system.
We may use our legal powers as a last resort to serve an emergency notice, carry out the repair and divide the cost between owners. We also make safe potentially dangerous defects in non-residential buildings and other structures. If the repairs are not considered an emergency, you can access support and advice through ESRS as described in section 2.2.
If your emergency relates to high pressure water ingress and flooding, you should take all necessary steps to contact the person responsible for the leak. If this does not resolve the leak, the Council’s Environmental Health team may be able to turn off the water supply or force entry if there is a risk of serious damage to the building or an imminent health and safety risk to occupiers.
2.4 ESRS charter
Through our charter we guarantee:
- we will offer a free information and advice service with helpful and knowledgeable staff
- our information will be easy to understand, available in several formats and we will translate our material on request
- if you need a face-to-face meeting, we will offer you an appointment within five working days of your request
- we aim to attend a building emergency within two hours of your call
- you will always deal with a named officer
2.5 Paying for shared repairs
As an owner you are responsible for paying your share of any work carried out by the ESRS. In some cases, you may be able to claim from your household insurance.
Advice is available from the Council’s Household support and Advice service, along with a number of other external advice providers which can be found on the , about:
- using savings and insurance
- setting up a maintenance fund
- extending your mortgage
- taking out a fixed term loan
- paying for works in stages