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Volume 3
Annex A Considerations For Designing A Maintenance Order
A.1. Chapter 2 looks at when a local authority can serve a maintenance order. The following tables summarise some the legislative requirements and policy issues local authorities may wish to consider.
A.2. Requirements for content:
Registration requirements - needed to enable registration | Identification of property: - title if in land register (including identification as a separate unit if the property forms part of a registered title, for example a flat in a tenement);
- conveyancing description if in Register of Sasines.
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Legislative Requirements(s42) | - Requires owner to prepare, and submit, a maintenance plan.
- Plan is to secure the house to a "reasonable standard".
- Specifies the period the maintenance plan is to cover (up to five years).
- Specifies the date by which the owner must submit the plan.
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Two or more properties | - The maintenance order can require owners to produce a joint maintenance plan.
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A.3. Things the local authority should think about:
Period for plan | The local authority will need to think about how long it wants the maintenance plan to cover (up to five years): - the local authority will need to monitor, and possibly implement, it throughout this period.
- will a maintenance plan of fewer than five years secure the maintenance of the property?
- will the authority take the same approach for all properties, or potentially vary it by individual circumstances?
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Deadline for submitting plan | How long will the local authority give owners to submit the plan? The following might have an effect on this: - whether the authority provides a template for the plan;
- the level of detail the plan should provide;
- complexity of problem plan is to deal with;
- input from professionals;
- Scheme of Assistance support.
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A.4. Additional information to consider giving to owners when local authority serves maintenance order:
Maintenance plan | It would be helpful to give owners: - advice on producing a maintenance plan - including template (if produced);
- information on how the authority will assess the plan, as this will tell owners what they should look to include in it.
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"reasonable standard" | It would be good practice for the local authority to provide information on how it will assess this in particular, as it is a trigger for the maintenance order and a criterion for the maintenance plan. |
Appeals | The local authority might wish to include information: - on owner's right to appeal within 21 days;
- on how the local authority will process appeals.
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Whole process | It would be useful to provide information from the start about the whole process - for example - what happens once the authority serves the maintenance order;
- the implications if the owner does not submit a plan;
- the local authority's powers if the owner does not implement their plan once it is in place.
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Scheme of Assistance | The authority might want to include information on: - what support is available from the local authority;
- any other sources of information or support.
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