Shared roofs, chimneys and the top-floor flat

Who owns the roof

The deeds may give the roof and roof space to the top-floor flat while still making maintenance a shared cost, or hold the roof in common outright. Both arrangements are common in Edinburgh, and they lead to very different conversations with a buyer.

Where the Tenement Management Scheme applies, the roof over the whole tenement is scheme property and every flat contributes to maintaining it, regardless of floor.

Chimney heads, cans and flashings

Chimney stacks are generally the shared responsibility of the flats whose flues pass through them, which can mean a different cost split from the roof itself. Cement haunching, cans, flaunching and lead flashings are the recurring defects on Edinburgh stacks.

Where a stack has been capped or a flue lined, keep the paperwork: it answers a Home Report comment before it becomes a price question.

What the Home Report surveyor records

The Single Survey gives condition category 1, 2 or 3 to the roof coverings, chimney stacks, rainwater goods and roof structure where visible. A category 3 on the roof of a shared building is one of the most common triggers for a buyer to reduce an offer.

The surveyor inspects from ground level and from within the property; they do not go onto the roof. A recent report from a roofer, with photographs, is therefore useful supporting evidence you can supply on request.

Evidencing a sound roof

Keep invoices, the specification, any guarantee and the scaffolding dates for work carried out. If the stair has had a full re-roof, the minutes recording the scheme decision and the final account are what a buyer's solicitor wants.

Where the roof is old but performing, an inspection report saying so is more persuasive than saying nothing.

Before you market: checklist

1. 1. Establish from the deeds whether the roof is common or belongs to the top flat
2. 2. Identify which flats share each chimney stack
3. 3. Gather invoices, guarantees and photographs for roof work in the last ten years
4. 4. Ask the factor for the last roof inspection report
5. 5. Consider a pre-marketing roof inspection if the covering is over 60 years old
6. 6. Disclose any agreed or discussed re-roofing to your solicitor before marketing

Common questions

Does a ground-floor flat pay towards the tenement roof?

Usually yes. Unless the title deeds say otherwise, the roof is common property in a Scottish tenement and every flat in the stair contributes to its maintenance, including ground and basement flats.

Who is responsible for a tenement chimney stack?

Ordinarily the flats whose flues run through that stack, which is often a smaller group than the whole building. The deeds should say; where they do not, the Tenement Management Scheme treats a stack serving more than one flat as shared.

How does a roof condition category 3 affect a tenement sale?

It signals urgent repair to every buyer who reads the Home Report. It does not prevent a sale, but buyers commonly ask for a quotation or a price adjustment, so having a roofer's report and cost estimate ready puts you in a stronger position.

Can I re-roof my own section of a shared roof?

Not normally in isolation. A shared roof is maintained as one, and patch repairs commissioned by a single owner can complicate liability. The scheme decision route through the other owners or the factor is the usual course.

Is a top-floor Edinburgh flat harder to sell because of the roof?

Not inherently. Buyers do ask more roof questions, and lenders' valuers pay attention to it, so top-floor sellers benefit most from having inspection and repair records to hand.