“With tenements, it’s every single problem around net zero and climate change all rolled into one building. I would say tenements are the hardest thing to decarbonise in our entire economy.” (Chris Carus, Loco Home, SHN Podcast)

This might sound like an invitation to bring out the wrecking balls, but that would be a big misunderstanding. Chris also says: “The brutal facts of climate change is that we don’t have the carbon budget to demolish buildings and build again.”

Chris runs a consultancy which helps tenement dwellers retrofit their homes, and he is positive about tenements in general. He says tenements are the most efficient form of construction that we’ve got. They’re innately energy efficient because they have fewer external surfaces compared to a house.

But most of his successful projects are about upgrading individual flats, not whole tenements. Getting home owners, landlords, tenants and anyone else involved to agree on what needs to be done is the biggest barrier to tackling overdue repairs, never mind tackling net zero. And some home owners just don’t have the cash for big repairs and upgrades.

Changeworks’ Josiah Lockhart was also a guest on our podcast. “The problem is, the world is made up of people. People live in flats. They’re not just flats, they’re homes. You have the fuel poverty issues with the people who can’t even afford to do the maintenance of the house that they own, because maybe they bought an ex-council flat and they’re living off their pension, so they don’t have access to finance. … ”

Mike Heffron from Under One Roof added “unworkable title deeds” to the list of complexities. Titles set out property owners’ responsibilities, but buildings change over many decades and the titles don’t always keep up. He supports a change in the law to make it mandatory for the owners of tenement flats to set up an association, gather funds for building maintenance and work together in their own interests.

“You would have somebody that would be a manager or contact, and you’d have to have a meeting once a year at least. You’d have to set a budget. Those are really minimal requirements for people to do, I mean, it’s the absolute minimum.” But the way forward is not yet clear … the Law Commission is deliberating on human rights and property rights and Mike and others are waiting for their report.

Under One Roof, Changeworks and Loco Home are providing advice, consultancy, expertise and guidance and, with others, are showing successfully how tenements can be repaired and upgraded. But it’s hard to point to any perfect exemplar which combines fabric improvements and net zero heating at a cost which property owners can afford. Mike Heffron cites the celebrated EnerPHit retrofitted tenement at Niddrie Road, Glasgow as a ‘science experiment’ … “it’s not something you could ever replicate”.

We spoke a lot about heat pumps, and Chris in particular was keen to debunk the myths that surround them. But when you think about a tenement, installing individual heat pumps seems like a clunky solution.

One of Mike’s insights stuck in my mind. He said, “heat pumps are the way that we can address carbon emissions now. Ultimately, a much better way of doing it would be district heating when you’re talking about tenement buildings. That’s years and years away.”

Which makes me wonder why we would bother trying to install heat pumps in tenements when there is plenty carbon to be saved in bungalows, villas and other types of flat. Let’s skip a generation and go straight for the heat networks. In the 1920s, Dundee managed to run networks of hot water pipes round the Logie and Stirling Park estates. If Dundee could do it then, surely Scotland can do it now?

Listen to the SHN podcast on retrofitting tenements below

Jimmy Black is a City Councillor in Dundee and, until recently, chaired an RSL. He writes in a personal capacity.

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