This information below is my own findings and whilst some of it has been checked by a solicitor, the full findings need to be thoroughly examined and confirmed by a professional. I am aiming to reach out to the Community Engagement Team at South Lanarkshire Council for guidance.

Overview

Stewart Milne put in place the Deed of Conditions (Deed) for the Brackenhill Park Development drafted in 2018 by Morton Fraser solicitors.

The Deed clearly explains:

1. There is to be an Association called The Brackenhill Park, Hamilton Owners' Association and the Association is automatically established on the date the scheme was registered in the Land Register of Scotland.
   
   
2. LAN216338 is the Stewart Milne registry entry for the Development.
3. The Development is comprised of phase 1 and phase 2 of Stewart Milne Homes, plus phase 1 of Bellway homes. 
   
   
4. LAN229099 is the land registry entry for phase 1 of the Bellway homes.
   
   
5. The scheme (order of development and the various rules and documents) was registered 14 June 2017.
   
   
6. Members of the Association are anyone that owns a home within the Development.
   
   
7. The development must have a Manager appointed. The first manager appointed was Hacking & Paterson Management Services (HPMS).
   
   
8. The Manager was to be appointed for a minimum of 5 years, but can stand for re-appointment.
   
   
9. There is to an Annual General Meeting (AGM) within the first 12 months of the development.
   
   
10. AGMs are to be organised annually by the Manager, and within 15 months of the previous AGM.
    
    
11. General Meetings can take place at any time, outside of a normal AGM. 
    
    
12. The Manager must arrange a General Meeting if 25% of members call for it, or if the majority of the Advisory Committee call for one.
    
    
13. Members can force a General Meeting to be organised by sending notice to the Manager giving a minimum of 14 days.
    
    
14. At a General Meeting, 40% of members must be present to form a quorom. At a General Meeting, a majority vote can enforce changes on the Manager.
    
    
15. An Advisory Committee (made up of Members who organise and run the Association) must be selected and voted for at a General Meeting.

 

From counting the properties shown on the land registry, there are 290 homes within the Stewart Milne / Bellway (phase 1) portion of the estate. A minimum of 73 members would be able to call for a General Meeting - this would equate to 25% of all homes. This does not have to be 73 homes - anyone that owns a home, whether individually or jointly, is a member automatically.

 

Initial Survey posted on Facebook

• Click here to view the survey
• Question 4 - detailed answers can be read here
• Question 5 - detailed answers can be read here

We have had 56 responses to the initial survey. There was one duplicate entry which I have not counted for the purposes of these findings. Of the submissions received, 48 people provided their address / street name. From this information, I found: 

• 39 properties were within the Stewart Milne & Bellway development (phases 1 and 2 of SM, and phase 1 of Bellway). 
• 5 properties were within the Barratt homes development
• 4 properties were within the Phase 2 of the Bellway development

Without seeing anyone else's Deed of Conditions, I can only reference the Deed provided when I purchased my own home - Phase 2 of Stewart Milne. For the purposes of establishing the Association, I can only operate on this information right now. It might be possible for owners within Barratt and Bellway Phase 2 to co-join with our Association and that could be an advantageous position for us all together.

Looking at the Stewart Milne / Bellway Development, there are 290 homes in total. 39 of the responses received are from within this development, which equates to 13.5% of the total number of homes. Given the minimum number is 73 to force a General Meeting, we are only 34 signatories short. The initial survey was based on Facebook members only.

At the moment, the responses do show that there is appetite for an Association to be properly established. It would not be unreasonable to think that an additional 34 signatures could not be found by doing door visits or posting information directly to residents.

 

Next Steps

My intentions next are to reach out to the Community Engagement Team at South Lanarkshire Council. This team can assist us with checking the legal terms of the Deed of Conditions to ensure the above information is correct, and assist us with forming a properly established Association that represents owners fairly, without fear of being challenged. It can also provide access to Participatory Budget funding and Community Grants if the Association wishes to tackle some of the wider issues identified in the survey findings.

I am happy to continue to explore this idea with the Community Engagement Team and with those that indicated their preference to assist in establishing the Association.

 

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