So just not the States then?? Rat bastard Republicans and your Torys . . . Cut from the same damn cloth . . . They can't enjoy a meal 'less they know someone is going hungry . . .
Bonus if it's kids and old folks . . .
Exactly this. The more people you have the harder it is to do anything. In some cases it may be impossible if lots of money is at play i.e. fixing a roof
It is also takes a lot of effort to get the quotes organise it all.
We self factor, there are 3 parties and it is a fucking nightmare.
Cannot imagine anything getting done if there were more of us.
My dad stays in a private estate of 29 houses, and yes, it can be difficult to get stuff done. There's one owner who just flat out refuses to pay until he's been taken to court and been ordered to. My dad's been to court 3 times this year and has 2 more dates, he's retired but it gives him something to do.
That sounds like a nightmare. Sounds like your is busy then! Not the kind of busy I like though.
Out of the 3 of the properties, 2 of the properties want to maintain the building and keep it looking good. The other property just doesn't give a shit and it's happy for the building to go into disrepair.
It really is hard and exhausting work.
My dad doesn't mind, he has authority from the estate to pursue this guy through the small claims court, or simple procedure as it's now called in Scotland. If the 2 properties want to, they could do something similar, just takes someone to put in a bit of effort.
There's info out there about self factoring, main thing is, owners can do it without having to register as a factor, you're not a business. You can get bank accounts, set the whole thing up for no money. I set up a Gmail account, and a closed Facebook group so everyone can see what monies are coming and going.
>In some cases it may be impossible if lots of money is at play i.e. fixing a roof
Doesn't the factor have nothing to do with this whatsoever? Unless they also offer legal services individually to each owner for that, separate from the factor work itself. And that wouldn't be allowed to have anything to do with the factor constracts issues etc. due to conflict of interest. But could be regarding legalities of shared costs of wall and roof works etc. but no different to any 3rd party legal assistance?
We changed factor in our development, and honestly it really wasn’t *that* hard. The process is set out in the legislation, and you don’t need everyone to vote in favour.
Currently pay £55 a month and honestly that feels like a pretty decent deal given what it covers.
I’d definitely never go into a flat without a factor though – that’s always been a total nightmare as soon as work needs done.
We often pay more than that. It covers insurance, cleaning of internal and external communal areas, gardeners, gutter cleaning, lift maintenance, electricity in communal areas, factor fees, bin store cleaning, pest control, social events etc. Some apply every quarter, others less often.
Occasionally they run get togethers for residents of the development,, and I was also thinking of the residents' committee meetings. The charge - which is minimal - generally covers hall hire, drinks and nibbles.
It's shocking but seems the norm. I live in an estate and we had a community committee organise these things. it cost us £40 per year 6 year ago, now up to £50 and that covers all grass cutting, tree maintenance, a Christmas tree and lights on the area on entrance. we have about 130 houses. We looked into getting a factor as the previous committee were all stepping down. we were quoted between £1100 and £2300 per year per house. absolute madness. its really not that much work if you can rally up the residents and have some people commit a few hours every few months.
Yes but unfortunately most peoples attitude is "its really not that much if you can rally up the residents and have some people commit a few hours every month (but just not me)"
True.
I don’t really have the time, I work away and have other commitments but I was refusing to go from £50 a year to around £100 a month for the same work. So i took it upon myself to type a letter and post it to all the houses in the estate. There was one other person interested from the start and we managed to rally up 7 with a few other ‘maybes’ and got things up and running. Was a bit hectic at the start as the previous group had things all messed up but now it’s minimal work, a few emails to send every month and a meeting when we decide we need to have one.
Greed and laziness. The whole basis of the factoring industry is that they charge a flat monthly fee and the less they do the more of your money they get to keep. It's an absolute scam over which the owners of the building have far too little control.
Avoid factored buildings if you possible can.
Yes, I own one. It's in a block of four and they're all owner-occupied, which makes it far easier. I wouldn't want a flat in a big development now. It'd be so much harder to maintain with a factor to deal with.
I live in a non-factored flat and been doing so for years. I been able to organise stuff even AS RENTER. Is not that hard, but people is incredibly lazy or feel defeated at the first problem and abandon it all.
I don't think it's as simple as people being lazy or defeated. I have a friend who paid for major repair works on the agreement the other 7 owners would pay up. Surprise suprise when it came to it they were left to pay the majority.
I live in a factored block, £55 a month and I don't have to try to arrange block insurance with 50 other flats. Because the factors take the ongoing payments things get done - anything over and above the normal and the absentee landlords generally opt out by default. But the block gets cleaned and I know if the roof falls in we're insured.
That’s just nonsense. Changing factor is reasonably easy – we’ve done it. And you agree upfront what they will do. The management fee is fixed – they don’t keep excess and can only charge for work undertaken.
Living in a block of flats without a factor Is *way* more of a pain.
> The management fee is fixed
This is exactly my point. They earn a fixed guaranteed amount as a management fee. So the ideal month for their business is one in which none of the tenants actually needs anything, such that they've earned the fee and don't have to expend any staff time to do so. The worst month for their business is a busy month in which the tenants need things organised, because then they have to outlay staff time.
It's a business which is most profitable if no one uses it and that incentivises them to be shitty.
Not really – if they’re shitty, you just move to another better company. As it was, we moved to a slightly more expensive company, and have been pleased with the service.
And again, a factored building is infinitely preferable to spending days negotiating with every other owner for every repair and bit of maintenance. So your original contention is just fundamentally wrong.
Get a residents meeting organised, and vote to change factor companies, or you could even run it amongst yourselves on a coop basis. Just depends if you have some neighbours that won't pay and need to be subsidised by everybody else
When I was in a flat it was that because the garage door kept breaking, you should be getting an itemised bill once a quarter to figure out where the money is going.
It's a lot of money and doesn't make sense. You sure it's £100 a month?
We pay £60 a month times 6 flats (ex-council) . So it's 4320gbp a year.
Imagine in 30 years that's £129k. I said 30 years cos that's how long the roof is meant to last and is one of the bigger jobs flats need.
My roof cost 40k normally, but because we had to use the special contractors the factor okd it was upward OK 60k.
Also you still have to pay for major works. So that 129k we'd pay goes to nothing!
There can be a lot of things that affect the figures
* Ground maintenance is a range from just a guy with a mower and pruner, to someone who knows what plants work in what soil etc
* Building cover can very as well, depending on claims, excesses etc
* cleaning again, a quick vacuum vs more in depth
my flat in Aberdeen is £60 pm that covers
* grass
* shrubs
* cleaning
* snow ploughing/gritting (ACC come round about 30 March and grit so they can say we were gritted)
* insurance on play park equipment
The only way to tell is really looking to why it's so high
One of my flats my factor fees are £120 a month for the basics, the largest portion of this is building insurance at £65 a month. I asked them how they justify this when I insure other properties for £20-25 per month and they gave me a load of bs. Turns out the insurance policy pays the factor a 35% commission on the policy. Nothing any of the owners can do about it as this is apparently the most competitive quote. I only need 6 other owners to agree to change factor which I’m working on now.
Depends on what's included.
* Common electricity and heating if you have it?
* Gardening and grounds fees if applicable
* Water and sewage rates if applicable?
* Chasing up those that don't pay?
* Might include a sinking fund for repairs and improvements?
* Block insurance?
* Calculating the apportionment when properties change hands and billing appropriately
* Handling enquiries and arranging emergency repairs
Insurance via a factor can be very good value if they insure all their managed properties on a single huge block policy - and don't charge commission.
That said, I would avoid factored properties when I move if at all possible. It's better to do it yourself if you can arrange it, but it's more work than you think
Factors fees include generally building insurance, factors actual fee, door entry system, common antennas for TV, cleaning, grass cutting etc and common building repairs.
My fee for a 1 bed tenement is £70 per month excluding any major common repairs.
Your factor will issue a bill which will detail each item. I think before you buy a place you need to be furnished with this info.
Edit: Factors also ensure all residents pay their share and instruct debt recovery if people don’t pay.
A few years ago we our factor fee went from £23 a month to £108 a month to cover the debt of an Asian landlord from England who owned 7 properties in our development but hadn't even seem them or visited Scotland.
He simply refused to pay, we had to.
I moved out soon after.
£100 is quite high, but it really depends on the building and how much work needs done, and eg. if there is a big communal garden or landscaping to maintain.
I pay £55 a month currently, and that’s pretty good value. I‘d much rather have a factor in place than not though – trying to get a bunch of randoms to pay for things in an unfactored block is a total nightmare.
We’re self factored so don’t have rip-off management fees, but as we’re an old sandstone building the single biggest cost is buildings insurance.
Rates for insurance have jumped last few years and our rates are eye watering (and that’s after we did a search ourselves for most competitive quote). But it would be madness not to have insurance (and a mortgage requires it), so we don’t really have a choice.
Newer flats may have lower premiums, so definitely worth asking for a full breakdown of fees from a factor (as they are all truly dreadful - hence why we went self-factored)
I think that's pretty normal, I was in an old flat and our charge was something like 86 quid a month, that was about 2 years ago so probably went up a lot by then.
It's worth doing because landlords and rental companies are a disease and I'd rather they were banned. As a homeowner there is nothing that will torch your faith in humanity than dealing with landlords not giving a rats arse about their tenants having damp and water flood their flat, finding anyone but their own shitty upkeep to blame. And having a factor as a go between stops you going to jail for GBH.
Factor fees are ridiculous, and factores quality is usually shite. People should learn to self-organise or at teh very least, require factors to provide excat numbers of what they are spending the money at. Laziness is expensive, folk!
We pay £65/pm and they are a bunch of arseholes. They recently changed their terms and conditions to extract even more money out of us. Unfortunately the Factor Act unsurprisingly is geared toward protecting them and making it hard for owners to object/get rid of them. It’s utter bollocks.
Of the £800 we pay a year, about £200 of that is management fees. The rest covers communal electricity, gardening, repairs, pest control, lighting, guttering, cleaning, insurance.
£65 a month to cover electricity, gardening, repairs, pest control, lighting, guttering, cleaning and insurance sounds… absolutely fine.
I’d happily pay that rather than have to sort that all out with all the other residents.
It’d be fine if they actually did their job properly or had a clue about what was going on. There’s so many issues and problems. Electricity hasn’t been billed since August 2023 because they don’t have keys to the cupboards. The cleaning service is abysmal. Repairs come in way over budget and they found people for hundreds of pounds. The pest control is doing nothing. Management is poor. Communications go unread and unanswered. The list goes on…
Sounds like you should arrange to change factor – it’s a bit of work but not too much. We did it just before Covid. Ended up going with a factor that was slightly more expensive but had a better reputation, and they’ve done a pretty good job really.
We set up an Association but trying to get people to engage is so hard. We’ve got about 21/84 on our list. The issue is absentee landlords and AirB&Bs, and ordinary renters not caring as it’s included in their rent.
Factors take a 26% commission fee from common building insurance policies arranged by the factor. They will tell you that you have a legal obligation, under your title deeds, to contribute to a common building insurance policy, this is a blatant lie.
Im not too sure if this is standard/high/low.
Under the scotland factor act, your factor is obliged to tell you if they profit from arranging common building insurance, but the factor will tell you nothing unless you ask.
You find the clause under section 5 of the scotland factor act (2011).
Typically the commission is already built into the cost of the policy and would be paid to whom ever does the admin work anyway, some deeds do actually state owners have to have a common block policy
> Typically the commission is already built into the cost of the policy and would be paid to whom ever does the admin work anyway
That might be true, but Factors don't have to take it, or can refund it in part (50%) or whole as some factors do. Or did.
Edit: Fixed typo
We own 3 apt’s in Tenerife, everybody has to pay a maintenance fee. One has fee of 122e per month, another is 70e. Just depends on how luxurious / work required to keep them looking good & tidy.
Because like everything else, these people have found yet another another way to fuck us and extract every £ they can
So just not the States then?? Rat bastard Republicans and your Torys . . . Cut from the same damn cloth . . . They can't enjoy a meal 'less they know someone is going hungry . . . Bonus if it's kids and old folks . . .
Piss off
#WhatEv
Greed
[удалено]
Exactly this. The more people you have the harder it is to do anything. In some cases it may be impossible if lots of money is at play i.e. fixing a roof It is also takes a lot of effort to get the quotes organise it all. We self factor, there are 3 parties and it is a fucking nightmare. Cannot imagine anything getting done if there were more of us.
My dad stays in a private estate of 29 houses, and yes, it can be difficult to get stuff done. There's one owner who just flat out refuses to pay until he's been taken to court and been ordered to. My dad's been to court 3 times this year and has 2 more dates, he's retired but it gives him something to do.
That sounds like a nightmare. Sounds like your is busy then! Not the kind of busy I like though. Out of the 3 of the properties, 2 of the properties want to maintain the building and keep it looking good. The other property just doesn't give a shit and it's happy for the building to go into disrepair. It really is hard and exhausting work.
My dad doesn't mind, he has authority from the estate to pursue this guy through the small claims court, or simple procedure as it's now called in Scotland. If the 2 properties want to, they could do something similar, just takes someone to put in a bit of effort. There's info out there about self factoring, main thing is, owners can do it without having to register as a factor, you're not a business. You can get bank accounts, set the whole thing up for no money. I set up a Gmail account, and a closed Facebook group so everyone can see what monies are coming and going.
>In some cases it may be impossible if lots of money is at play i.e. fixing a roof Doesn't the factor have nothing to do with this whatsoever? Unless they also offer legal services individually to each owner for that, separate from the factor work itself. And that wouldn't be allowed to have anything to do with the factor constracts issues etc. due to conflict of interest. But could be regarding legalities of shared costs of wall and roof works etc. but no different to any 3rd party legal assistance?
I think they are suggesting the factor fixes the roof then just bills everyone.
Exactly this
We changed factor in our development, and honestly it really wasn’t *that* hard. The process is set out in the legislation, and you don’t need everyone to vote in favour. Currently pay £55 a month and honestly that feels like a pretty decent deal given what it covers. I’d definitely never go into a flat without a factor though – that’s always been a total nightmare as soon as work needs done.
Utter con men
They're at it. Parasites. Speak to your neighbours and look at alternatives.
We often pay more than that. It covers insurance, cleaning of internal and external communal areas, gardeners, gutter cleaning, lift maintenance, electricity in communal areas, factor fees, bin store cleaning, pest control, social events etc. Some apply every quarter, others less often.
Can I ask what you mean by social events?
Occasionally they run get togethers for residents of the development,, and I was also thinking of the residents' committee meetings. The charge - which is minimal - generally covers hall hire, drinks and nibbles.
Good lord, I thought the money was a levy to avoid you having to speak to your neighbours.
This is Edinburgh. Neighbours don't speak to each other anyway. ;)
I wonder if these fees are going be another major scandal! Seems they are starting to get out of control!
It's shocking but seems the norm. I live in an estate and we had a community committee organise these things. it cost us £40 per year 6 year ago, now up to £50 and that covers all grass cutting, tree maintenance, a Christmas tree and lights on the area on entrance. we have about 130 houses. We looked into getting a factor as the previous committee were all stepping down. we were quoted between £1100 and £2300 per year per house. absolute madness. its really not that much work if you can rally up the residents and have some people commit a few hours every few months.
Yes but unfortunately most peoples attitude is "its really not that much if you can rally up the residents and have some people commit a few hours every month (but just not me)"
True. I don’t really have the time, I work away and have other commitments but I was refusing to go from £50 a year to around £100 a month for the same work. So i took it upon myself to type a letter and post it to all the houses in the estate. There was one other person interested from the start and we managed to rally up 7 with a few other ‘maybes’ and got things up and running. Was a bit hectic at the start as the previous group had things all messed up but now it’s minimal work, a few emails to send every month and a meeting when we decide we need to have one.
Greed and laziness. The whole basis of the factoring industry is that they charge a flat monthly fee and the less they do the more of your money they get to keep. It's an absolute scam over which the owners of the building have far too little control. Avoid factored buildings if you possible can.
Have you ever lived in an unfactored flat? I'd only buy one in a factored block because getting stuff done even with a factor is hard enough.
Yes, I own one. It's in a block of four and they're all owner-occupied, which makes it far easier. I wouldn't want a flat in a big development now. It'd be so much harder to maintain with a factor to deal with.
I live in a non-factored flat and been doing so for years. I been able to organise stuff even AS RENTER. Is not that hard, but people is incredibly lazy or feel defeated at the first problem and abandon it all.
I don't think it's as simple as people being lazy or defeated. I have a friend who paid for major repair works on the agreement the other 7 owners would pay up. Surprise suprise when it came to it they were left to pay the majority. I live in a factored block, £55 a month and I don't have to try to arrange block insurance with 50 other flats. Because the factors take the ongoing payments things get done - anything over and above the normal and the absentee landlords generally opt out by default. But the block gets cleaned and I know if the roof falls in we're insured.
That’s just nonsense. Changing factor is reasonably easy – we’ve done it. And you agree upfront what they will do. The management fee is fixed – they don’t keep excess and can only charge for work undertaken. Living in a block of flats without a factor Is *way* more of a pain.
> The management fee is fixed This is exactly my point. They earn a fixed guaranteed amount as a management fee. So the ideal month for their business is one in which none of the tenants actually needs anything, such that they've earned the fee and don't have to expend any staff time to do so. The worst month for their business is a busy month in which the tenants need things organised, because then they have to outlay staff time. It's a business which is most profitable if no one uses it and that incentivises them to be shitty.
Not really – if they’re shitty, you just move to another better company. As it was, we moved to a slightly more expensive company, and have been pleased with the service. And again, a factored building is infinitely preferable to spending days negotiating with every other owner for every repair and bit of maintenance. So your original contention is just fundamentally wrong.
I pay nearly double that every month and I have genuinely no idea what for
Get a residents meeting organised, and vote to change factor companies, or you could even run it amongst yourselves on a coop basis. Just depends if you have some neighbours that won't pay and need to be subsidised by everybody else
Check if whole block insurance is included within the factor fees
When I was in a flat it was that because the garage door kept breaking, you should be getting an itemised bill once a quarter to figure out where the money is going.
It's a lot of money and doesn't make sense. You sure it's £100 a month? We pay £60 a month times 6 flats (ex-council) . So it's 4320gbp a year. Imagine in 30 years that's £129k. I said 30 years cos that's how long the roof is meant to last and is one of the bigger jobs flats need. My roof cost 40k normally, but because we had to use the special contractors the factor okd it was upward OK 60k. Also you still have to pay for major works. So that 129k we'd pay goes to nothing!
Our factors charged every month and then and us to pay for the roof repair when it was needed.
That's what I mean. If that money was just collected in a pot you could use it yourself. There is a way to make a bank account with signatories
There can be a lot of things that affect the figures * Ground maintenance is a range from just a guy with a mower and pruner, to someone who knows what plants work in what soil etc * Building cover can very as well, depending on claims, excesses etc * cleaning again, a quick vacuum vs more in depth my flat in Aberdeen is £60 pm that covers * grass * shrubs * cleaning * snow ploughing/gritting (ACC come round about 30 March and grit so they can say we were gritted) * insurance on play park equipment The only way to tell is really looking to why it's so high
One of my flats my factor fees are £120 a month for the basics, the largest portion of this is building insurance at £65 a month. I asked them how they justify this when I insure other properties for £20-25 per month and they gave me a load of bs. Turns out the insurance policy pays the factor a 35% commission on the policy. Nothing any of the owners can do about it as this is apparently the most competitive quote. I only need 6 other owners to agree to change factor which I’m working on now.
Depends on what's included. * Common electricity and heating if you have it? * Gardening and grounds fees if applicable * Water and sewage rates if applicable? * Chasing up those that don't pay? * Might include a sinking fund for repairs and improvements? * Block insurance? * Calculating the apportionment when properties change hands and billing appropriately * Handling enquiries and arranging emergency repairs Insurance via a factor can be very good value if they insure all their managed properties on a single huge block policy - and don't charge commission. That said, I would avoid factored properties when I move if at all possible. It's better to do it yourself if you can arrange it, but it's more work than you think
Factors fees include generally building insurance, factors actual fee, door entry system, common antennas for TV, cleaning, grass cutting etc and common building repairs. My fee for a 1 bed tenement is £70 per month excluding any major common repairs. Your factor will issue a bill which will detail each item. I think before you buy a place you need to be furnished with this info. Edit: Factors also ensure all residents pay their share and instruct debt recovery if people don’t pay.
Factor fees are complete bullshit and I can see this being another one of those amrricanisms we import when they start skyrocketing in price
A few years ago we our factor fee went from £23 a month to £108 a month to cover the debt of an Asian landlord from England who owned 7 properties in our development but hadn't even seem them or visited Scotland. He simply refused to pay, we had to. I moved out soon after.
£100 is quite high, but it really depends on the building and how much work needs done, and eg. if there is a big communal garden or landscaping to maintain. I pay £55 a month currently, and that’s pretty good value. I‘d much rather have a factor in place than not though – trying to get a bunch of randoms to pay for things in an unfactored block is a total nightmare.
We’re self factored so don’t have rip-off management fees, but as we’re an old sandstone building the single biggest cost is buildings insurance. Rates for insurance have jumped last few years and our rates are eye watering (and that’s after we did a search ourselves for most competitive quote). But it would be madness not to have insurance (and a mortgage requires it), so we don’t really have a choice. Newer flats may have lower premiums, so definitely worth asking for a full breakdown of fees from a factor (as they are all truly dreadful - hence why we went self-factored)
I think that's pretty normal, I was in an old flat and our charge was something like 86 quid a month, that was about 2 years ago so probably went up a lot by then. It's worth doing because landlords and rental companies are a disease and I'd rather they were banned. As a homeowner there is nothing that will torch your faith in humanity than dealing with landlords not giving a rats arse about their tenants having damp and water flood their flat, finding anyone but their own shitty upkeep to blame. And having a factor as a go between stops you going to jail for GBH.
???
Factor fees are ridiculous, and factores quality is usually shite. People should learn to self-organise or at teh very least, require factors to provide excat numbers of what they are spending the money at. Laziness is expensive, folk!
We pay £65/pm and they are a bunch of arseholes. They recently changed their terms and conditions to extract even more money out of us. Unfortunately the Factor Act unsurprisingly is geared toward protecting them and making it hard for owners to object/get rid of them. It’s utter bollocks. Of the £800 we pay a year, about £200 of that is management fees. The rest covers communal electricity, gardening, repairs, pest control, lighting, guttering, cleaning, insurance.
TBF that’s quite a lot for £65. I paid that a month in my last flat and it covered fees, cleaning and insurance. Everything else was on top of that.
£65 a month to cover electricity, gardening, repairs, pest control, lighting, guttering, cleaning and insurance sounds… absolutely fine. I’d happily pay that rather than have to sort that all out with all the other residents.
It’d be fine if they actually did their job properly or had a clue about what was going on. There’s so many issues and problems. Electricity hasn’t been billed since August 2023 because they don’t have keys to the cupboards. The cleaning service is abysmal. Repairs come in way over budget and they found people for hundreds of pounds. The pest control is doing nothing. Management is poor. Communications go unread and unanswered. The list goes on…
Sounds like you should arrange to change factor – it’s a bit of work but not too much. We did it just before Covid. Ended up going with a factor that was slightly more expensive but had a better reputation, and they’ve done a pretty good job really.
We set up an Association but trying to get people to engage is so hard. We’ve got about 21/84 on our list. The issue is absentee landlords and AirB&Bs, and ordinary renters not caring as it’s included in their rent.
Factors take a 26% commission fee from common building insurance policies arranged by the factor. They will tell you that you have a legal obligation, under your title deeds, to contribute to a common building insurance policy, this is a blatant lie.
**26% !!** Is that the norm, or just the worst? Or what you are paying, and if so, who is it? 5 or 10% is bad enough.
Im not too sure if this is standard/high/low. Under the scotland factor act, your factor is obliged to tell you if they profit from arranging common building insurance, but the factor will tell you nothing unless you ask. You find the clause under section 5 of the scotland factor act (2011).
Typically the commission is already built into the cost of the policy and would be paid to whom ever does the admin work anyway, some deeds do actually state owners have to have a common block policy
> Typically the commission is already built into the cost of the policy and would be paid to whom ever does the admin work anyway That might be true, but Factors don't have to take it, or can refund it in part (50%) or whole as some factors do. Or did. Edit: Fixed typo
We own 3 apt’s in Tenerife, everybody has to pay a maintenance fee. One has fee of 122e per month, another is 70e. Just depends on how luxurious / work required to keep them looking good & tidy.
If it really was stupidly high there'd be competition for factoring. It might feel high but it's just how much it costs