The City of Edinburgh Council has today been granted the first Management Control Order ever granted in Scotland under the Anti-Social Behaviour legislation.
The order puts the council in the position of landlord of the two flats at 31/2 and 16/4 Grove Street which were used as ‘party flats’ for stag and hen weekends, causing much distress to neighbours.
This follows a long list of actions on the part of the council to try and contain the situation which have not proved effective. The landlord was told to restrict the numbers of people staying in the flats and an Interim Interdict was granted against the property owner in August 2013 which was ignored. The landlord had continued to advertise the properties for stag and hen parties despite the court order.
The council says it has immediate plans in place along with local police to prevent large groups using these flats this weekend and there will also be a long term strategy produced. The owner now has seven days to hand over all booking records and keys for the properties.
City Centre councillor Karen Doran said:-“I am absolutely delighted that the residents of Grove Street can at last have peace in their homes.
“I met with the residents when I was first elected, and promised them I would do everything I could to assist them. I spent a long Friday evening sitting in my car in Grove Street witnessing what the residents went through every weekend.
“I am so grateful to my colleagues and all the hard work done by Council staff to achieve this wonderful outcome.
“No one should have to be disturbed week in and week out by party flats.”
Fellow City Centre councillor Joanna Mowat said:-“This is great news for the beleaguered residents and shows that persistence can pay off. This process has taken along time and was slow to start but having committed to the process a group of council officers has achieved a great result. We must build on this success and ensure that other nuisance party flats are dealt with in the same way. No one should be allowed to make other people’s lives a misery and this send out a strong message that the City will not tolerate irresponsible landlords.”
The Management Control Order will last for 12 months. This is only used as a last resort in these cases, and it is significant that this is the first such order granted since the legislation came into effect some time ago.
In The Scottish Government’s guidance notes to the legislation the government issue this advice:- “The local authority’s first priority under the Management Control Order should be to take management actions that reduce or eliminate the impact on the community of the antisocial behaviour specified in the notice. But it should also seek to change the situation so that the landlord will manage antisocial behaviour effectively when the property is returned to his control.”
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