The City of Edinburgh Council is to consider a new property conservation service, in the wake of a wide-ranging repairs scandal that saw at least nine employees lose their jobs.

The value of property repairs shot up from about £92.m in 2005 to close to £30m in 2010 and the issue of payments to contractors is still being investigated.

Now the statutory system could be scrapped in favour of a voluntary scheme that the council said would be a "complete overhaul".

The council's Finance and Resources Convener, Alasdair Rankin, said it was important to "reassure the public that the council has cleaned up its act".

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If the new scheme goes through, owners will take more responsibility for their own repairs and the council's statutory powers will become a last resort.

The council also asked for the public's feedback on the following ideas:

•Providing or contracting a property factoring service

•Assisting owners to develop a 'tenement management scheme'

•Reintroducing a service like the Edinburgh Stair Partnership to support private owners in managing their own repairs

•Carrying out inspections on buildings at risk and reporting these to owners.

Councillor Rankin said: "We must have a clear break with the past. While we understand the benefits that the previous system, when working properly, had to some property owners, the circumstances in which the Council intervenes on maintaining private properties needs to be much more under control."

Proposals will be considered at the council’s policy and strategy committee on Tuesday (August 7) and a new system could be up and running by spring 2013.

(NE)