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If your home forms part of a larger building (for example, you own a flat in a tenement), the council may send the owners of the properties in the building a maintenance order requiring you to draw up a joint maintenance plan.

What is a maintenance order?

Maintenance orders are a new measure to help councils ensure that privately owned properties don't fall into disrepair. You may be sent a maintenance order if the council is concerned that your home is not being, or is unlikely to be, kept in good condition, or that work done under a work notice or repairing standard enforcement order (RSEO) is not being maintained.

The page on maintenance orders explains more about maintenance plans, how to appeal against an order and how maintenance plans are enforced.

What is a joint maintenance plan?

If your home is part of a larger building containing two or more houses or flats, you may be required to draw up a joint maintenance plan with the other owners, to show how you'll manage the upkeep of the property, including common areas, such as the stairs, roof or garden. This plan must show who will be responsible for what and how the costs will be shared.

You'll need to submit the plan for approval by a date specified by the council in the maintenance order. The council won't approve a joint plan for three or more houses unless the majority of owners have confirmed that they're happy with it.

How do we agree on a joint maintenance plan?

The majority of the owners must agree on the plan. This means you'll probably need to arrange a meeting with all the owners. You can get advice from the council, a surveyor or builder about the work you're likely to need to carry out. If your building has a property manager or factor, they may be able to draw up the plan for you.

The page on working together to maintain common areas has more information about organising meetings and working out repair and maintenance plans.

What should a joint maintenance plan include?

A joint maintenance plan must:

• specify the maintenance which needs to be done while the plan is in place
• specify any steps to be taken to carry out this maintenance and when this will be done
• include estimates of likely costs.
• set out the legal obligations of each owner.

The plan can also:

• divide up different responsibilities amongst the owners
• require owners to appoint someone to oversee the implementation of the plan – the council should indicate whether this could be one of the owners or an external manager
• require owners to put money into a joint maintenance account
• include arrangements for running the maintenance account.

The council will let you know if your plan has to include any of these points, and may provide you with a template to help you devise the plan.

The plan cannot contradict any responsibilities set out in your title deeds, or in the tenement management scheme (TMS) or any development management scheme (DMS) that may be in place. Nor can owners be expected to maintain any parts of the building they don't own or have no responsibility to maintain, either through their title deeds or the TMS or DMS.

What is a maintenance account?

A maintenance account is a joint account set up by the owners to cover the cost of maintenance work. If you decide to set up a maintenance account, you need to set out in the maintenance plan how it is to operate.

The council may give you a grant to cover the costs of setting up or closing down a maintenance account.

Find out more about applying for grants.

What if someone won't pay their share?

If one of the owners doesn't pay up, because they are unable to pay, it is unreasonable to expect them to pay, or they cannot be found, you can ask the council to deposit their share into the maintenance account. The council can then recover the money from the non-payer, by registering a repayment charge if necessary. The page on maintenance orders explains more about repayment charges.

This doesn't just apply to maintenance work that is being carried out as a result of a maintenance order, but can apply to any work carried out to maintain common areas. The page on paying for common repairs has more information about asking the council to pay a missing share.

What if we don't carry out the plan?

If the owners fail to carry out the work laid out in the plan, the council may step in and do it for you, then recover the expenses for the work from you.

Find out more about how the council enforces maintenance orders.