Speaking on the Scottish Housing News Podcast, interim director Audrey Murphy and housing expert Professor Douglas Robertson unpack the legal, financial, and operational barriers facing minority landlords like Abronhill.

Abronhill’s situation is stark. Of its 257 units, 105 tenants live across 70 mixed tenure blocks, yet the association holds majority ownership in just two. With no factoring agents in most blocks and over 140 private landlords, many owning just one flat, Murphy describes a “complex operational environment” where even urgent repairs become logistical nightmares.

“We had a ceiling collapse due to water ingress. One landlord refused to pay, and the rest of us had to cover the cost,” Murphy shared. “It’s inconsistent, inefficient, and unfair to tenants who deserve the same standards as those in fully social blocks.”

Professor Douglas Robertson

Professor Robertson, author of ‘Why Flats Fall Down’, traced the problem to decades of policy neglect. He argues that the 2004 Law of the Tenement lacks teeth, especially in the face of rising private landlordism and absent owners.

“We’ve created a tenure system where housing is treated as a financial product, not a public good,” Robertson said. “The law doesn’t compel owners to cooperate, and without compulsory insurance or unified standards, buildings are literally falling apart.”

Both guests support the idea of compulsory owners’ associations and mandatory sinking funds, but caution that these alone won’t solve the problem.

Murphy’s proposals include a national forum to map the scale of the issue, equal housing standards across all tenures, financial support for low-income owner-occupiers, and legislative reform to enforce shared responsibility.

Robertson adds that building insurance should be mandatory, stronger legal frameworks are required that recognise tenements as collective entities, and calls for public investment to prevent future collapses.

As Scotland faces an ageing housing stock and rising repair costs, the podcast raises urgent questions: Should the government step in with funding? Can legislation catch up with reality? And how do we protect tenants caught in the crossfire?

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast below…

Further reading:

• Why Flats Fall Down - Navigating shared responsibilities for their repair and maintenance
• Tick Tock for Tenements

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode here.

The Scottish Housing News Podcast is co-hosted by Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black. All episodes are available here as well as on the following platforms:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Spotify for Podcasters