Renfrewshire Council

If you're a private homeowner, we can offer support to help you maintain, repair and adapt your house.

Section 72 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 requires all local authorities to produce a 'scheme of assistance' for private sector housing.

What the scheme of assistance for private homeowners is

The scheme of assistance details the help and advice we can provide to owners who need to carry out repairs and improvement work to their homes.

It tells you when we'll provide practical support and financial assistance to private housing which:

• is in disrepair or below the tolerable standard as detailed in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987
• needs to be adapted because a person is disabled.

Financial support can include grants (which you do not need to pay back), but only in limited circumstances.

Non-financial help can include information, advice and practical help to homeowners.

Through a range of actions set out in our Local Housing Strategy, we'll work with partners to:

• encourage owners to take more responsibility for the repair and maintenance of their homes
• support older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes
• support owners in mixed tenure blocks (where there is a mix of both privately owned homes and council or Registered Social Landlord homes) to carry out shared repairs
• bring empty homes back into use
• improve the energy efficiency of homes and reduce fuel poverty
• improve management and maintenance issues in the private rented sector.

Who can get support

You can receive help or support under the scheme of assistance if you are:

• a property owner
• a private tenant
• a disabled person or if a disabled person lives in your household (where we have assessed that the home requires adaptations to meet their needs).

What support is available

There are 3 main areas of support under the scheme of assistance.

Information and advice

We'll provide a range of advice and information to any homeowner on home repairs, improvements and how to manage these.

This advice is available through council services, partner organisations and local and national advice agencies.

The scheme of assistance provides useful contact emails, phone numbers and links to partner websites.

Practical assistance

We can provide practical assistance towards:

• older and disabled people to live safely in their homes
• owners of empty homes
• missing shares pilot scheme for tenement repairs
• the co-ordination of energy efficiency programmes
• shared repairs in mixed tenure blocks with council properties.

Financial assistance

We can provide financial assistance to people with disabilities to adapt their homes to make them more suitable to live in (where we have assessed that the home requires adaptations to meet their needs).

We can also provide grant support to flat owners in mixed tenure blocks if:

• you're being asked to participate in capital improvement works to common parts where the council or Registered Social Landlords (RSL) own some properties in the building
• you're being asked to participate in council housing regeneration programmes.

How to get support

You can see the full range of help and support available through our scheme of assistance for private homeowners. [1MB]

Further information

For more information about the scheme of assistance or private housing support, contact our Owner Services Team:

• phone: 0300 300 0300
• email: ownerservices.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk