Why some Fife tenants pay for stairhead cleaning, others don’t – and why it changing
A new charging plan is to be introduced to cover the costs of cleaning stairwells and communal areas after it emerged some tenants were paying more than others - and some were not getting any bill at all.
The move to harmonise the system will be phased in over two years. The cost of cleaning stairwells last year was £435,504, and that is set to rise every year.
Officers are consulting with area committees to apply a consistent charging procedure to address historic differences, and help recover the costs of providing the service.
Kirkcaldy area committee this week agreed in principle with the proposal, but some councillors had concerns tenants would end up footing the bill.
The initial roll-out is set to cover 84 blocks located in the Lang Toun, Glenrothes and North East Fife areas from 2026-27. Once that is done, next summer will see changes to the remaining 295 blocks in North East Fife, Levenmouth, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath by the end of the 2026-27 financial year.
Tenants are responsible to keep internal communal areas clean on a weekly basis. Where the work is done by the council, they are then billed.
But a review of the charges revealed many variations. In Glenrothes and Levenmouth there are currently no charges to tenants. Other areas show charges being applied inconsistently across different blocks - the committee was told there are examples where neighbouring blocks were getting the same level of service, and some are being charged for this work, but others were not.
The reason for the lack of consistency seems to be historic. It is likely the arrangements currently in place pre-date the creation of Fife Council, which also does not provide this type of service in Dunfermline and South West Fife where tenants are expected to do their own stairwell cleaning. A report to the committee said: “The income received from tenants does not meet the full cost of providing this service and there was a considerable annual shortfall of £284,307 in 2024/25. This will increase to £289,241.04 for 2025/26. This is not sustainable going forward.”
Councillor Carol Lindsay (Kirkcaldy North, SNP) said: “Why are we introducing new charges instead of looking for efficiencies elsewhere? What help is there for tenants who cannot afford to absorb these costs?”