Need Help From Anyone Who Lives In Glasgow Tenements!

2boysmum

Don't think the gha are much better, we live in a street of tenements, we are the end block so there is only 4 flats and we all own, last year our whole street got new roofs, gutters and cladding except our building, we have water pouring in the wall above our verandah every time it rains. We asked about getting the work done and were told we would be able to apply for a grant but theres a 5 year waiting list for the grant, so we got together with the neighbours and we all decided we would like to get the work done, contacted the gha and we are still waiting, phoned them hundreds of times to find out whats happening and either they are short staffed, someone is on holiday, the person who deals with that is not in the office, phoned last week and asked what their bosses name was, surprise surprise, the next day 3 companies out to give quotes! Phoned today to find out when they can start the work as we really need it started before the bad weather comes in. We also had someone who could give us quotes for a front and back door with security entrance, told the gha, they said no, they are the factor so any work needs to go through them,

Armbase

2boysmum wrote: »

We also had someone who could give us quotes for a front and back door with security entrance, told the gha, they said no, they are the factor so any work needs to go through them,

No No No No NO!!!!!!!!! :eek::mad:

The Factor is YOUR agent. They are employed by YOU. It is YOUR property. You can do what the heck YOU like to it as long as it doesn't contravine planning or title deeds.

Tell them to Get Stuffed.

Cheers
Bob

2boysmum

Well, just had a quote from the factors for building work. The rest of our street has been done, new roofs, gutters, cladding and security doors. Because we don't have a council tenant in our close they don't have to do our building. Our roof is leaking, gutters are blocked and we have water penetration in our living room. The people in the next close from us have a council tenant in their building so they are automatically entitled to a grant. If we want a grant we have to wait up to 6 years and there is no guarantee that we would get it, so we have asked them to give us a quote, they came back with £15.000, money has to be paid upfront, into a suspense account, work wont start until the last person pays their money into the account, guess who gets the interest on the money while we wait for everyone to pay?:mad: Included in the price is the 6% management fee!:mad:

So now need to go to the bank and see I can add the money onto my mortgage!
Sometimes wish I had stayed a council tenant

sevmccaig

Hi i need some advice.

I live in a tenement flat in Glasgow. There is a cracked rainwater pipe which is leaking into the 1st and 2nd floor flats. I live on the 3rd. My flat is completely fine. Now i dont mind paying for the pipe to be fixed but in order for that to happen they have to rip apart the wall in my bedroom to gain access.

Where do i stand in this? Do i have to pay for any repair work to the wall or does the 1st floor flat who have the leak pay for it?

Any help would be appreciated

wolfehouse

it should be covered by the buildings insurasnce from the factor who should know.
when a pipe burst in ours the house insurance (by the factor) covered the repair and we had to pay for replacement flooring from our contents insurance separately.

vim

2boysmum - if more than half of you agree you can change your factor to whoever you like, or self-factor. My last flat was self-factored although we were lucky that everyone payed their bills and the old guy downstairs did all the admin work - organising tradesmen, collecting the money etc. - and didn't even want paid for it himself.

It is worth asking someone else to quote for your work, factors are notorious for presenting huge quotes from their 'preferred' tradesmen ~ rumours of backhanders/incentives etc. between factors/property managers/agents and building companies are rife.

(AFAIK) If more than half of you agree to any individual item of repair or maintenance works being done then the work can be done and the other owners are legally obliged to pay up (although you -or someone- will likely have to pay for the work in the meantime and, at the worst, wait until the flat is sold until you are payed back if they are particularly stubborn).

For (probably a lot less than) the 6% management fee proposed by GHA for this one job you could have a solicitor write up a formal agreement between owners for self-factoring, even assigning the admin work to one owner who could be compensated for their time and effort (bound to be less ££ than a factor).

It is also normal for owners to formally 'commit to pay' (not sure of the formal term) for a repair, but not hand over any money until everyone has 'committed' and the work has been ordered. I thought this was the normal system, not 'give us your money and we'll look after it until everyone has payed' :mad:

My new flat is factored by GHA and with a majority of GHA tenants (no chance of changing fator) and I am getting ready to question any overpriced maintenance work and provide alternative quotes from reputable companies if they present overpriced quotes. (although beware your 'reputable company' may well have dealings with your factors already . . .)

First post so hi everyone!

2boysmum

vim wrote: »

2boysmum - if more than half of you agree you can change your factor to whoever you like, or self-factor. My last flat was self-factored although we were lucky that everyone payed their bills and the old guy downstairs did all the admin work - organising tradesmen, collecting the money etc. - and didn't even want paid for it himself.

It is worth asking someone else to quote for your work, factors are notorious for presenting huge quotes from their 'preferred' tradesmen ~ rumours of backhanders/incentives etc. between factors/property managers/agents and building companies are rife.

(AFAIK) If more than half of you agree to any individual item of repair or maintenance works being done then the work can be done and the other owners are legally obliged to pay up (although you -or someone- will likely have to pay for the work in the meantime and, at the worst, wait until the flat is sold until you are payed back if they are particularly stubborn).

For (probably a lot less than) the 6% management fee proposed by GHA for this one job you could have a solicitor write up a formal agreement between owners for self-factoring, even assigning the admin work to one owner who could be compensated for their time and effort (bound to be less ££ than a factor).

It is also normal for owners to formally 'commit to pay' (not sure of the formal term) for a repair, but not hand over any money until everyone has 'committed' and the work has been ordered. I thought this was the normal system, not 'give us your money and we'll look after it until everyone has payed' :mad:

My new flat is factored by GHA and with a majority of GHA tenants (no chance of changing fator) and I am getting ready to question any overpriced maintenance work and provide alternative quotes from reputable companies if they present overpriced quotes. (although beware your 'reputable company' may well have dealings with your factors already . . .)

First post so hi everyone!

Hi Vim,

The problem we have now is that the neighbour in the top floor flat came back last november and said they couldn't raise the money for the work, so nothing has been done. Their has been a few fights between them and the neighbours below them over noise and now they aren't talking to anyone in the close and have developed a real attitude, we never had a problem with them and they aren't even speaking to us for some reason. The reason that the money has to be payed upfront is because it is classed as major works and goes through the development team. To just patch the roof we would be able to pay it up.
Things have got a lot worse since last year, a few weeks ago my neighbour came to the door at 5am to say that part of the close ceiling had collapsed. There was water pouring down the stairs, and a huge piece of plasterboard had fallen in at the top floor landing. We phoned the buildings insurance first of all, loss adjuster came out and told us we couldn't claim as it was down to wear and tear of the roof and probably wouldn't pay any money out for anything else connected to the roof as he knew the history of the building (why am I paying buildings insurance then?). Then phoned the GHA to report the ceiling, guy came out and wouldn't repair it as he said it would probably just happen again because the water was still coming in the roof! Came home from work and there were 2 guys with shirts and ties looking at the roof, asked them if they were here to look at the roof, they said no, we are here to see about putting in a new water tank! Apparantely the neighbour in the top floor flat reported a leak in her flat, which someone told her was coming from the water tank and now they want £400 each for a new water tank! They were fom City Building and were shocked at the state of the building, they said that as they hade saw it they would have to report it but in the meantime we should contact Environmental Health, so contacted them, he then told us to contact Building Control, he came out and had a good look round, he couldn't really do anything either but said it was a disgrace that the building had been so badly neglected, he also agreed that most of the problems we have were caused by the contractors when the were fitting the new roof and gutters on the adjacent building, tiles have been moved and a 3 foot piece of gutter has been removed. We then contacted our local councillor and had a meeting with him and the development team, they said we could either get repairs done up to £2000 and pay it up, but they couldn't guarantee that the work would last through the winter!! However if we wanted to go ahead and just get the new roof on its own it would be around £5000 but we wouldn't be able to pay that up as its a different department!!:mad: We are now waiting to have a meeting with the grants department to see if they can help us, so looks like another freezing, wet winter for us!!

Jowo_2

I am reviving this thread to get a more up to date position - does the following sound about right or can the building get a better deal.

Southside glasgow block of 8 flats in a tenement. Factor has billed each flat £160 for a six month initial period (£26 per month) for buildings insurance. Next year quoted at £260 for the full year (£21 per month).

Compares with paying £50 per annum (£5) per month in a pre-factored era when taken out on an individual basis though as this was with contents insurance, the insurer would have discounted it.

And no to suggestions of self-factoring since the owners proved themselves to be either too lazy to organise repairs or too stingy to contribute to a common fund even though it was only £15 per month and that included the cleaning and all repairs, though excluded block insurance !

As a result the tenement had rats and and was strewn with dog-!!!!! in the back court and bags of rubbish dumped which were ripped open by animals left it strewn with nappies, condoms and used sanitary towels, plus some owners couldn't be bothered to insure their properties and pay towards any repairs.

caleytiff

I am with H & P as well in Glasgow and have encountered lots of the issues raised in this thread.

Insurance. Our common buildings insurance has gone up by over 30% in 18 months and I tried to tell them I would look elsewhere. Not surprisingly they told me it was a common policy and I needed majority consent. They have taken it upon themselves to renew this policy with out proper quoting process, year on year. They have nothing in writing to say that was what was asked for ( I was present at the close meeting when we hired them) This year the excess went up £100 to £150, an insurance company decision? If you can get all your owners to agree you can organise this kind of policy yourself. The industry standard is £1 per £1000 sum assured, just ring any broker, which I have done and H & Ps common buildings insurance is going to be history. I also rent out a flat in Paisley where a Housing !!! is my factor and my insurace from the same company as H & Ps is £3 per month compared to £22. It is obvious they are ripping us off and Ive said so in letters to them. They do not get you,the owner,an individual policy. They lump you on their common policy covering god knows how many other buildings. You cant build up no claims and all claims must go through them. You cant even contact the insurance company to discuss any claims or anything as it is their name on the policy. My advice is to contact them 8 weeks prior to your renewal date and instruct them to put your insurance out to quote from a number of brokers ( just like quoting for a repair). Tell them you are not happy with the current provider or broker (same as if you were not happy with their choice of tradesman, you can select your own). You do not need anyone else in the close to agree to this quoting process, you are simply stating you are not happy with the status quo. Remind them they do not have a mandate(unless your title deeds state) to organise common building insurance year on year. If you can get everone in the close to agree you can get a quote from any broker for exactly the same level of cover as they are providing at a 60% discount (I have checked). Apathy is the life blood of Factors. 20 minutes work and a few well chosen threats works wonders, even if it seems you are the only one in the close who gives a toss.

aidanbree

My factor (MacFie) for my southside flat charges around 400 a year each for building insurance. I can get an insurance policy privately for far less.

When I questioned the cost previously, I was told I could not opt out of the common policy. Is this correct?