Changing Property Management Company (Factors) for shared flats in Scotland

storrie

Hi all, I and a number of my neighbours are extremely unhappy with the level of service from our current factor (Ross Liddell, in case anybody's wondering) and i'm trying to investigate what it takes to change the factor.

Someone told me it's 1/3 of residents but i can't really find any good advice anywhere on the internet. I'm kind of hoping someone on here will have been in a similar situation and can offer some advice, even some pointers on potential pitfalls.

I live in a block of 12 flats, but there are 10 blocks in my development and it seems my factor has us all bunched in together ie 120 residents so looks like i'd need a large number of residents and it sounds like a logistical nightmare but to be honest my factoring fees have doubled in 3 years and our service is horrendous so i really want to do something about it, even making RL tender for their own contract would be an improvement because they seem to think they're in now so they can get away with whatever they like

patman99

This all depends on several factors (no pun intended). Who owns the freehold?, is it a company that is wholely owned by the residents, or is it an outside company?.

If it is a company owned only by the residents (or if rented, their landlords), then you should have an elected board of Directors (made-up of residents), and have an AGM every year. In this case, see if you can arrange an all-residents meeting with the directors to point out your concerns about this.

If, however, the freehold is owned by an outside company (such as the original developer), then they can appoint pretty much who they like as your management company (or in your case, Factor). The only way to resolve this one would be to jointly set-up your own residents-owned company to purchase the freehold, you could then either set-up your own Factor, or appoint a suitable 3rd-party one.

Luckily, you don't have 'Century21' as your Factor. This show of !!!!!! really are the biggest bunch of rogues going. They are so stupid they can't even remember what sites they are responsible for. They sent me a bill for painting my flat, trouble is, they are not my Factors, another company is.