A new app designed to improve the condition of property in co-ownership in Edinburgh and all of Scotland has been launched.
The Edinburgh City Council and its partner Novoville announced the release of a free app called Novoville Shared Repairs, which was born out of the Scottish Government’s CivTech Accelerator programme.
The app is intended to assist private tenement or housing block owners in what is often a lengthy and burdensome maintenance and repairs process.
Novoville Shared Repairs enables the app users to manage repairs of common areas from start to finish and in compliance with the Tenement Management Scheme of the Tenements Act (Scotland) 2004.
Less complexity and friction, and more transparency
App users start by creating their ‘virtual tenement’ and then reporting a repair or maintenance issue to the co-owners. The app enables receiving quotes from contractors who are members of Edinburgh’s Trusted Trader scheme, as well as taking votes. This speeds up decision making and eliminates friction likely to arise between proprietors when coming to an agreement. It also increases transparency between all participants.
Another benefit from using the app is less complex and faster payment process as app users are no longer required to have a traditional treasurer account with a bank or building society in order to gather funds, but can pay the chosen contractor from a dedicated e-money account for their tenement with FCA-regulated partner, Modulr.
Commenting on the release of the Novoville Shared Repairs app, Steve Richardson, Director of Scotland Trusted Trader, said: “This is going to be a massive benefit for those looking to organise shared repairs, backed up with the reassurance that Trading Standards vetted members are being used from Edinburgh Trusted Trader.”
Fotis Talantzis, CEO of Novoville, added: “We are proud to support one of the UK’s greatest architectural assets, the built environment in Edinburgh, with our Shared Repairs app. The CivTech programme where it all started was a tremendous experience, and we are very happy that the City of Edinburgh Council decided to continue to support and fund the project afterwards.
“We have got tons of ideas to take it from there and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with Edinburgh, for Edinburgh and Scotland at large.”
The Novoville Shared Repairs app is available on Google Play and the App Store.
