There is legal protection for owners who do not agree with majority decisions. The circumstances are relatively limited.
If the decision has been made using the default rules within the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, owners who didn’t vote for the decision and who would be liable for 75% or more of the costs can simply annul (cancel) the decision. They have 21 days to inform all the other owners that they plan to do this. The 21 days starts from the day of the meeting or the date of the notification (if the owner(s) didn’t attend the meeting. If owners block urgent repairs, then consider using the Duty to Maintain.
Even if the default rules within the Tenements Act do not apply to your tenement, if an owner does not agree with a decision, they have 28 days to ask the Sheriff Court to annul that decision. The 28 days start from the date of the meeting or the date the owner was given notice about the decision, whichever is later.
The Sheriff can annul the decision if it is felt that it is:
- not in the interests of all the owners as a group or
- unfairly prejudicial to some owners
A Sheriff is unlikely to allow an annulment if a decision is about:
- commissioning straightforward repairs as it is obviously in everyone’s interest to keep the tenement in good order
- which contractor to use or
- repair specification
An example of a decision which might be successfully appealed is carrying out expensive repairs to a building that has only a short life.
These rules do not apply to decisions made under a Development Management Scheme (but these schemes are still not commonly found and may only be relevant to developments completed since June 2009).
Taking legal action should be your last course of action. It is much better to meet with other owners and talk about why you disagree, and attempt to come to a compromise position.
