Time for a Building MOT

That the Parliament welcomes news that Historic Scotland is to pilot a Traditional Building Healthcheck scheme, which will help owners of traditional properties identify repairs and suggest how they can be tackled; considers that the traditional skills needed to repair such properties will support employment opportunities and sustainable housing while tackling fuel poverty and climate change; believes that it is not about property owners spending more money but empowering them to make informed decisions about the work that they will undertake; is concerned that the Scottish Housing Condition Survey (SHCS) 2010 stated that 81% of dwellings in Scotland have some disrepair and, of those, 73% had disrepair to critical elements and that, despite 708,000 Scottish households undertaking work on properties totalling £2,088 million between 2008 and 2010, the SHCS 2010 reports that the condition of properties continued to deteriorate both in the percentage of disrepair and the percentage of disrepair to critical elements; understands that the pilot scheme, which will be run in partnership with ConstructionSkills Scotland, is based on the idea of a building MOT advanced by organisations in the building skills sector such as the National Federation of Roofing Contractors and is supported by the Federation of Master Builders; commends the hard and innovative work of these groups; notes that the scheme is the start of a strategy that aims to raise awareness of the condition of Scotland’s traditional building stock, and looks forward to the outcomes of the pilot.