Below Tolerable Standard Grants

£300,000 from the 2024/25 Town Centre Living Fund has been allocated to tackle properties that fail to meet Tolerable Standards across Dumfries and Galloway.


Update

A budget to support the Below Tolerable Standard Grant Scheme for 2024/25 has now been put in place and we will be in touch with those on the waiting list to arrange visits as soon as possible.

If you have a new enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact us for guidance/advice regarding your property defect.


Where occupied properties fail to meet the Tolerable Standard, grant assistance to carry out the required repairs may be made available to homeowners, private sector landlords and for commercial properties who have a responsibility for shared works. In most circumstances, a 50% grant will be made available to eligible properties with maximum award of £5,000.  Further assistance may be available for those in receipt of Council Tax Reduction, see link for further information click here.

To meet the tolerable standard a property must meet the following criteria:

  • The main fabric of the property is structurally stable.
  • There is an adequate supply of wholesome water and if there is a sink with a satisfactory supply of hot and cold water.
  • The property has toilet facilities available for the exclusive use of the occupants of the house.
  • The property is substantially free from rising or penetrating damp.
  • The property has a fixed bath or shower and a wash hand basin, suitably located within the house and each has a satisfactory supply of hot and cold water.
  • The property has an effective system for the drainage and disposal of foul and surface water.
  • The electric supply meets safety regulations
  • The property is insulated well enough
  • There is suitable ventilation, natural and artificial light, and heating
  • It has a proper entrance
  • In cases of major works being required to meet the tolerable standard, such as roof replacement or structural remediation, assistance would also be provided to install smoke and heat alarms where required. Where technically feasible, the objective would be to support the addition of hard wired alarms.

Heat and Smoke Detection

The law on fire alarms changed February 2022 which means all Scottish homes will need to have interlinked alarms. Interlinked means if one goes off, they all go off, so you will always hear an alarm wherever you are in your home.

The new law has come about because of the Grenfell fire in London in 2017, and it applies to all Scottish homes.

It is the property owner's responsibility for meeting the new standard.  Every home must have:

  • one smoke alarm in the living room or the room you use most
  • one smoke alarm in every hallway or landing
  • one heat alarm in the kitchen

All smoke and heat alarms should be mounted on the ceiling and be interlinked.

If you have a carbon-fuelled appliance - like a  boiler, fire, heater or flue - in any room, you must also have a carbon monoxide detector in that room, but this does not need to be linked to the fire alarms.

You can use either sealed battery alarms or mains-wired alarms.

Both types of alarm are interlinked by radio frequency and do not need WiFi.

For more information, please visit Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Rescources

More information

To arrange an initial visit to your property by one of our team

Page last updated: 21/03/2024
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