Tenement Life

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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Sat Sep 22, 2012 3:40 pm

They recover costs if non-payment arises by legal action - short, swift and rightly so! They look in the best interests of the building and the majority owners.

If you PM me - I will give you the name of the commercial company we 'sacked' and the new company we hired. Unless I am allowed to put both on here, which I would gladly do but don't want to step on anybody's toes...
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Josef » Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:11 pm

Best not to post publicly.

I'd be interested in those details though, if that's ok.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:20 pm

Folks, I should add - if you are thinking about being proactive and chasing your old factor and replacing with a social factor, ie Housing Association (not GHA) then I suggest you contact your local housing association; ie if you live in Shettleston go to the nearest there or if you live in Maryhill they have a housing association, as does Partick and also Scotstoun and Whiteinch and others'.

Believe me - be proactive don't sit and wait for the roof to collapse - it's your investment! It's your home! And if you are one who doesn't take a share in cleaning the close or tidying up after you - Shame on you! It's probably the most expensive item you've ever purchased and you don't take care of it, so why should a commercial factor worry about you?

I hope you get my drift now.....
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby The Egg Man » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:49 pm

dogface wrote:Any clues on where to find an 88" tenement internal door?

I've rung West Coast Reclamation & will give Glasgow Architectural Salvage a ring in the morning but any other bright ideas much appreciated! :)



I spotted a 'Door Shop' at the east end of Kingston St earlier.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Sunflower » Sun Dec 23, 2012 1:31 pm

Here's one for the HG hive mind - all opinions, factoids, personal experiences, friend-of-a-friend stories welcome, anything no matter how vaguely related, please help!

Our flat is one of four up the stairs on a trad tenement building. The building has two main door flats, which both have ground floor and basement levels (with internal staircases). The same bloke owns both main door flats.

He's applied for planning permission to split both main door flats into separate ground floor and basement flats. The plans show the ground floor flats (which are the ones with the existing street doors) having new doors made into the close. The owners of the four upstairs flats have some sympathy with the idea of splitting the main door flats (who can think of a use for a double floor flat with 15 rooms, no private outdoor space and limited street parking?), but we don't want extra doors in the close, where we keep bikes and bins and litter pickers and grit and salt...

The title deeds say "... no alterations shall be made to the structure of the subjects hereby disponed which would interfere with the structural stability of the said tenement, without the consent of a majority of the proprietors of said houses in said tenement." It seems to me that bashing holes in the close walls for new doorways 'would interfere with the structural stability etc. etc.

Help, help, HG hive mind - I know someone is going to say go to a lawyer, but have you got any experience that suggests that one lawyer's view is going to be definitive? If we shell out to a lawyer and their answer helps us, won't the downstairs owner just find a different lawyer with a different opinion?

And, even if it said in the title deeds in plain english understandable by everyone, 'Thou shalt not make new doorways into the close', what mechanism is there for us to use to stop it happening?

I'd love to hear about any even vaguely relevant experiences, please, please?
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby HelenD » Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:50 pm

Putting new doorways in a wall won't necessarily interfere with the structural integrity of the building if a suitable lintel is built in above the doorway. It's a fairly standard procedure involving acro-props and stout pieces of timber.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby BTJustice » Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:58 pm

Cant you find another place for your bikes? I put mine 1 flight up on the landing nearest my door.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Sun Dec 23, 2012 7:49 pm

I think your Deeds are quite clear actually and I've read thousands of them! It doesn't necessarily need to be structurally related but the fact is in the 'common areas' of the close - a majority consent is required. If he doesn't have the majority consent within the close - then he haw goes his planning permission! You cannot make substantial alterations to a communal property or communal components without the consent of the co-owners.

One word of caution - when leaving things in a close such as bikes etc, you may well find that these obstacles contravene the terms of the deeds and they can often be considered as fire hazards....
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby cell » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:12 pm

What’s the story about who is liable for any costs (redecorating) associated with damage from a water leak from the privately owned flat above, do I have to claim my contents or my buildings insurance or can I claim anything from the owners above?

If there is a water leak from the flat above and they are not in, what would the procedure be for getting access? How bad does it have to be and who would you contact to force access?

Factors for the close are a housing association if that makes any difference.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby The Egg Man » Thu Jan 03, 2013 4:39 pm

Get in touch with your landlord's emergency plumber. If you're a Housing Assoc tenant the number should be on their website or on info supplied to you by them during the year. Let them do the running and make the decisions about access etc.

Emphasise you're getting water in and are worried about the electrics. "Significant leaks or flooding from water or heating pipes, tanks or cisterns" is a qualifying repair under the Statutory Right to Repair regulations and should be completed within 1 day of report.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby beneld » Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:44 pm

I think this counts as tenement life;

At New Years dinner, with all my aunts and uncles, my younger niece ( 9 ) was saying how she bends the covers of books back when she is reading them just like her dad. At this my aunt, who ended up being a Head English teacher, told us that at Possilpark Library when they were kids ( ie 40's/50's) they had to show their hands to the librarian to show they were clean before you were allowed to go look or dare to touch the books. You were not allowed to wash them after they failed inspection just no book for you that day. Also the books were checked over when handed back for signs of excess wear and tear.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby cell » Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:34 am

The Egg Man wrote:Get in touch with your landlord's emergency plumber. If you're a Housing Assoc tenant the number should be on their website or on info supplied to you by them during the year. Let them do the running and make the decisions about access etc.

Emphasise you're getting water in and are worried about the electrics. "Significant leaks or flooding from water or heating pipes, tanks or cisterns" is a qualifying repair under the Statutory Right to Repair regulations and should be completed within 1 day of report.


Thanks Egg Man, I should have said it’s a privately owned flat, bought from a housing association (as is the one above, hence why the housing association are the factors), the one above is let out through an agency but we didn’t know that at the time of the leak so had no contact numbers. If I did get an emergency plumber out, say in the middle of the night, who would make the call to force entry to the flat above to fix a leak? Would I need to involve the Police, the Environmental Health or who?

I understand from another source that I have to foot the redecorating costs given that this is the second leak they have had which seems a bit unfair.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Bingo Bango » Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:39 pm

Sunflower wrote:Here's one for the HG hive mind - all opinions, factoids, personal experiences, friend-of-a-friend stories welcome, anything no matter how vaguely related, please help!

Our flat is one of four up the stairs on a trad tenement building. The building has two main door flats, which both have ground floor and basement levels (with internal staircases). The same bloke owns both main door flats.

He's applied for planning permission to split both main door flats into separate ground floor and basement flats. The plans show the ground floor flats (which are the ones with the existing street doors) having new doors made into the close. The owners of the four upstairs flats have some sympathy with the idea of splitting the main door flats (who can think of a use for a double floor flat with 15 rooms, no private outdoor space and limited street parking?), but we don't want extra doors in the close, where we keep bikes and bins and litter pickers and grit and salt...

The title deeds say "... no alterations shall be made to the structure of the subjects hereby disponed which would interfere with the structural stability of the said tenement, without the consent of a majority of the proprietors of said houses in said tenement." It seems to me that bashing holes in the close walls for new doorways 'would interfere with the structural stability etc. etc.

Help, help, HG hive mind - I know someone is going to say go to a lawyer, but have you got any experience that suggests that one lawyer's view is going to be definitive? If we shell out to a lawyer and their answer helps us, won't the downstairs owner just find a different lawyer with a different opinion?

And, even if it said in the title deeds in plain english understandable by everyone, 'Thou shalt not make new doorways into the close', what mechanism is there for us to use to stop it happening?

I'd love to hear about any even vaguely relevant experiences, please, please?


First port of call - is the tenement a listed building? Is it in a conservation area? If yes to either of these then the relevant permissions will be required to be applied for and you should all be notified. Have you been notified about this work through the planning process only? It would have been nice for the owner to contact you personally....If you dont know if its listed you can search on the internets.

A warrant will also be required covering structural alterations and access and fire escapes etc. If you were familiar with the regs you could see how likely he is to get this warrant. It is illegal to carry out work without a warrant. You can search on GCC website for all applications - I am sure you know this but if you want the link give me a shout.

Other than that - I have no particular advice. I would be pretty annoyed if another owner in my close was wanting to make pretty fundamental changes involving the common areas of the block. i wonder if there is any other way he can arrange the 2 new flats to go entirely out through his own property. Maybe this current proposal is just the path of least resistance or the one where no building professional has been consulted....

I would love to be kept up to date with what develops on this, if you dont mind.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Dot » Mon Jan 07, 2013 8:50 pm

cell,

My aunt was away from home when leak in her privately owned flat caused damage to flat below.
Neighbour had my phone number and rang me to explain position.
To cut a long story short my aunt paid the bill for the plumber but was not asked for any further payments so can only assume
damage was not too serious.

A neighbour who lives above my aunt has a spare key so they can access flat to check it if she is away or to access in
Emergency situations.
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Re: Tenement Life

Postby Guacho » Wed Mar 06, 2013 2:27 pm

Guacho wrote:Noticed that the tenements at 706 Pollokshaws Road (The block with Heraghty's bar) still have round external stairwells. Hadn't seen these for years- I thought they had all been demolished.
Didn't manage a picture :(


Finally got 'round' to it ::):

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704-744 Pollokshaws Rd Glasgow by guachglw, on Flickr
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