Private Housing Assistance Scheme

Clackmannanshire Council’s Private Assistance Scheme helps homeowners, private tenants and private landlords to maintain or adapt their homes.

The Scheme offers 3 main types of assistance:

Advice & Information

The Council may offer general advice and information to help homeowner pro-actively maintain or adapt their homes on a range of property condition issues and adaptations, including how to raise funds to carry out the works.

Practical Assistance

The Council may offer practical assistance to homeowners fulfil their repair and maintenance responsibilities, especially in cases of common ownership and maintenance of communal areas.

Financial Assistance

The Council will make grants available to homeowners who experience a disability or an illness and meet the criteria of eligible adaptation to remain safe and independent at home.

If the homeowner is eligible for mandatory grant assistance, the Council will award the homeowner with a Disabled Adaptation Grant. The grant will cover a minimum of 80% of the approved costs of the eligible adaptations, rising to 100% depending on the individual circumstances.

To request advice, information or an assessment of a particular need for adaptation, please contact the Adult Care Team.

Subject to criteria, the Council may also offer limited grants to homeowners to improve house condition and energy efficiency. Due to limited funds, grants will be offered subject to criteria and will be prioritised based on the works required.

Tackling Repair Problems in Buildings with Common Parts

The Private Housing Assistance Scheme aims to encourage you, as a homeowner, to take a positive approach towards your responsibility to properly maintain and repair your home. To help you achieve this, the Scheme has a range of assistance available.

If a repair problem has been identified affecting the common parts of building, such as the roof on a block of flats, you should first attempt to contact the other owners affected. If you share responsibility for the upkeep of the property, you should try to discuss the works with all owners and try to agree how repairs can be carried out.

If you are unsure what repairing responsibility you have for any common areas of a building you should obtain a copy of your title deeds to confirm. You will be able to request a copy of the title deeds for your home from either your solicitor or mortgage provider, there will normally be a charge for this. Clackmannanshire Council does not have copies of title deeds, even if your home is an ex-Council property.

Enforcement Action

Private Assistance Scheme aims to promote owner responsibility with minimal statutory intervention. However, the Council may be required to use enforcement action as a last resort in order to carry out emergency/urgent works, address public safety issues or assist homeowners in carrying out common maintenance works where one of the owner is absent or unwilling to participate in the works.

Where enforcement action becomes the only option, the type and level of action taken by the Council will be determined by the level of disrepair to the building and by the level of commitment made by owner(s) to address the problem

Where enforcement action is initiated, the Council will serve all owners with a legal Notice. The Notice will provide details of the required works and a timescale for completing the works. The Notice can be appealed within 21 days of being served.

If owners do not comply with the Notice, the Council may do the work on their behalf. All costs will be recharged to the owners and may involve a Recharge Order placed on the property.