Owners of shops and commercial premises in tenements and blocks of flats need to follow the same rules as other types of owners.
Share of repairs
Shops must pay their share of repairs, just like the other owners in a tenement building, either following what is stated in the titles or, if the titles are silent, following the default rules in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004.
Shops may not always be responsible for repairs to the common close if they have no access to it. In this case, if the property titles are silent on the responsibility for repairs to the common close, then the default rules in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 provide that repairs to the common close are to be split only between the owners that have access to or take access from the common close. This would also apply in the case of main door flats.
In older tenements, a shop’s share of repairs may be set by reference to Assessed Rental, Annual Value or Rateable Value. This may mean that the shop owner is required to pay a much larger share of repair costs than other owners due to the historic rates calculations. This is often unduly burdensome for many shop owners as the turnover and value of their premises has dropped considerably since 1989, the year in which the values of Assessed Rental, Annual Value, and Rateable Values are to be calculated in reference to tenement maintenance.
Full repairing leases
Many shops are rented on full repairing leases which require the shop keeper tenant, rather than the shop owner, to pay for all repairs. The lease is a personal contract between the tenant and the landlord (the shop owner). Therefore, it is the shop owner who is legally responsible to the other owners for paying for repairs, and it is up to the owner to subsequently enforce the terms of the lease on their tenant to recover any costs from the tenant. The lease does not affect the other owners. You should always aim to deal with the shop owner when carrying out common repairs, as should the property factor.
Shop fronts
Shop fronts (and some of the internal spaces) are wide spaces and the walls above are generally supported by bressumer beams. These beams are part of the building’s structure and important to keep repaired. These beams may also be found above other parts of the shop where they support internal walls above.
