Novoville Shared Repairs launches in Aberdeen

The Novoville Shared Repairs app has now been released in Aberdeen to assist flat owners in the process of common repairs and maintenance to their block.

Where did Novoville Shared Repairs originate?

Novoville Shared Repairs was born from the Scottish Government-backed “Civtech” accelerator program in an attempt to solve one of the biggest challenges that Scottish homeowners face: managing the condition of communal areas in tenements. The app simplifies the entire common repairs process into an easy step-by-step process, and puts the power into the hands of the owners that want to get the jobs done. It’s not required that all owners in a tenement join the app to complete a common repair.

There is no need to worry about following the correct steps: the app will guide you through the entire process from start to finish.
The biggest headache when it comes to common repairs is opening and managing a shared bank account. Now there is no need to wait for weeks for an account to be opened with a high street bank. The app comes with a built-in payment account that can be opened in hours. This account is dedicated to your common repairs and is transparent, so all owners can see the funds received and make the needed payment to the trader. The team at Novoville ensures that your common repairs are hassle free and organised in no time.

Success of the app

Novoville already counts over 1,000 tenements signed up in Scotland, which represents approximately 10,000 individual homes. After 7 Scottish Local authorities including Glasgow and Edinburgh, Aberdeen is now the 8th council to have worked in close collaboration with Novoville to bring the app to its residents. Whenever appropriate, the app will help local residents understand and access Aberdeen Council’s private housing services.

This is what everyone had to say

Aberdeen City Council Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee Convener Councillor Miranda Radley said:

“We are delighted to work with Novoville to introduce a new way to help our residents to repair and maintain their homes. This is a fantastic way to encourage neighbours to come together and manage their block’s needs.”

Louis Daillencourt, designer and manager of Novoville Shared Repairs, said:

“Aberdeen is the second largest Scottish locality for unfactored tenements, so there is a clear need there for assistance with communal repairs. Aberdeen City Council has been a cheerleader for Novoville Shared Repairs for a long time, but changes in leadership meant that our green lighting had to wait. It’s great to finally be over the line. To be fair, the council has already been promoting to some of its residents, so we have been helping some tenements locally since the spring of 2023 already, before the announcement was official. We see that as a big mark of trust from the Council and we’re extremely grateful for their support.

It’s not just about repairs, though. Like other places in the country, Aberdeen is confronting the climate emergency head on, and they will be publishing their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy by the end of this year. In the background, Novoville has been building the follow on from Shared Repairs: a new platform dedicated to helping homeowners understand their options for retrofit, and procure works. Unique to this platform will be the opportunity for homeowners to work as a collective, both to bring costs down, and to support thorny cases like tenement blocks. The community truly is at the heart of what we do! We look forward to continuing our work with Aberdeen City Council in this space as well.”

A high-level overview of the in-app process can be found here.