Need Help From Anyone Who Lives In Glasgow Tenements!

Duncs_ · 21 May 2014 at 10:56AM

Hopefully, someone can help. :exclamati

Property is in Troon, with 6 flats. Every factor we've looked at so far has had some really bad reviews...Redpath Bruce being the latest one. Can anyone suggest, and I'm sure there must be some out there, a good factor who doesn't rip you off an actually does what they say they'll do? :huh:

roger_c · 21 May 2014 at 1:56PM

I would vouch for Newton, but am not sure whether they cover Troon area, but can't say anything bad about them. Possibly more expensive than others but you get what you pay for with them.

The only other factor I've experienced is Speirs Gumley, and I've been told if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all...

BigAunty · 4 August 2014 at 11:05AM

I'm reviving this thread to ask if any homeowners have personal experience of GHA as their factor.

I received a Home Report for a tenement flat that I'm viewing in the West End which has Number 2 level defects listed for roof, chimney and guttering repairs with water ingress into the top part of the close.

From a browse of the GHA services (perhaps from outdated info?), it seems that they have targets to fix these types of defects (dampness/rot/general fabric repairs) in 30 days.

As part of the usual checks, I want to understand if these issues have been caused by a failure of GHA to act on maintenance requests or if the costs exceed the threshold where they must seek permission from owners and they are too stingy to consent to the work.

The Property Questionnaire completed by the owner admitted to historic repairs of the roof in the past but didn't provide any costs despite it being requested on the form. They have not flagged up any future scheduled work or estimates.

Does anybody know if a prospective purchaser or their solicitor can make enquiries directly to a factor to receive information on historic and future charges, for example?

Does anyone know what the current threshold is for repairs per flat where owners permission is sought for repairs?

My provisional thoughts, based on past experience of living in a tenement, is that owners of flats that don't sit directly below the roof usually don't give a stuff about the condition of it because they aren't affected by damp/mould issues and are reluctant to contribute to charges.

davidmcn · 4 August 2014 at 10:22PM

You, as a third party, won't get information directly from the factors. Data protection and all that. Best to ask the sellers to provide past invoices etc.

If works are overdue then (given the cosy relationship between the factors and their preferred contractors) I would presume that the problem is owners being unwilling/unable to stump up the costs.

septicseigfried · 14 September 2015 at 8:39PM

Good thread to keep alive as it appears the main service provider players still dont get it
Anyone looking to change factor or find a new one, would be well served by steering well clear of Hacking and Paterson.

Over 10 years of service that can only be described as scandalous, teetering on unethical and consistenly flagrant to meeting the needs of the tenement owner. One word: 'disgraceful'.

Consistently providing the worst experience of any service provider in my life. I can only think that their very survival exists due to the general apathy of tenement owners requiring to herd the cats that are the many owners that make up a factored building to switch provider.

Wish we switched earlier and glad that have.

gr_wgtn_j8 · 12 November 2015 at 3:14PM

Avoid Ross and Liddell, like the plague.
They recently increased my share of the annual buildings insurance from £40 to £100 with no increase in cover. The amount of cover was only £28,000 each (just for common areas?) so I took out my own buildings and contents cover as well.
They have now increased the annual premium to £287.85 with no explanation or information about what it covers.
I had only just renewed my buldings and contents with Tesco for only £120 a year with buildings replacement cover up to £500,000.
On top of this they have also notified us that their annual charge will now increase above the rate of inflation each year. I consider this totally unjustified as they are incapable of properly arranging anything other than the most simple of repairs to the building.

A_Frayed_Knot · 5 December 2015 at 11:21AM

When I bought my property 4-in-a-block it was a condition of the mortgage to have buildings insurance, so I managed to get it for £120..00 after the mortgage went through it was a condition of the purchase that I had to take the block insurance -pre council property, and only if all 4 were bought we could opt out. As I was the new kid on the block, just paid up.

So this meant I was insured twice for the same property. (Wonder what would have happened if I needed to claim!!!) The one that all owners pay through factors is twice the amount of the first I paid on my own. Why ?? because the factors charge 50% more/extra of the 1st insurance because they "factor" /admin costs, and thats from each of the 4 of us.

We are all bought, so could opt out, but all of us would need to opt out and come to an agreement re repairs etc.

Need Help From Anyone Who Lives In Glasgow Tenements!

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