Marchmont and Bruntsfield
Living with the pipes in a Marchmont tenement
A Marchmont tenement is usually a four- or five-storey Victorian stone block built between 1876 and about 1914, so most water, waste and roof repairs are shared decisions.
By the Pipes Up the Stair site team · how pages are checked · Updated
Marchmont is close to a pure tenement suburb, and that makes it a good place to learn how shared plumbing works. Almost every stair here has the same basic set-up: one roof, one set of rhones, a soil stack or two, and drains under a back green that several owners hold together.
How old are the Marchmont and Bruntsfield tenements?
Mostly late Victorian and Edwardian. The council's Marchmont, Meadows and Bruntsfield appraisal says Marchmont was laid out under an 1876 feuing plan in which every building was a four- or five-storey tenement, finished by around 1914. Before 1900 the feu charters required the Scottish Baronial style, with crowstepped gables and turrets; later streets such as Spottiswoode and Lauderdale are plainer. All the buildings are stone with slated roofs, and many tenements are listed.
Why are back greens such a big deal?
They tie the owners together. The appraisal calls communal back greens "an essential component" of the area's character, and they are usually where the stair's waste pipes meet. Under One Roof, a Scottish charity, describes how soil pipes at the back of a tenement usually collect in a back-court manhole before the drain runs under the close. Scottish Water confirms that common drains inside a block's own ground stay private, so a blockage there is for the owners, not the water company. Never lift the manhole yourself; read blocked drains in a tenement.
How do owners agree on a repair?
By the deeds, then by majority. Where the title does not cover it, the Tenement Management Scheme gives each flat one vote and makes a decision by majority of all the votes, with at least 48 hours' notice of a meeting. The Edinburgh Shared Repairs Service gives free advice, and our pages on council shared repairs help and missing shares cover what happens when someone will not pay.
Will a heat pump work in a Marchmont flat?
Probably not on its own. A Scottish Government study names Marchmont among the classic Edinburgh tenements and finds that standard individual units suit only four-in-a-block and terraced flats; for bigger blocks it looks to communal heat pumps, ideally mounted on flat roofs. Read heat pumps in flats and Home Energy Scotland support before getting quotes.
What about the top-floor flat?
It carries the roof, with help. Under the Tenements Act, section 2, a top flat includes the roof over it, but the scheme still treats the roof as shared property for maintenance unless the deeds differ. Top floors also see the weakest water flow first; see low water pressure upstairs.
Where this comes from
- Marchmont, Meadows and Bruntsfield conservation area character appraisal — City of Edinburgh Council: dates, heights, back greens, listing
- Drainage — Under One Roof: back-court manholes
- Drains and sewers guide — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): private drains within a curtilage
- Tenement Management Scheme — votes and notice
- Shared repairs and maintenance — City of Edinburgh Council: free advice
- Heat in buildings: multiple ownership buildings — Scottish Government: heat pumps and tenements
- Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, section 2 — top flat and roof