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If this is truly happening, and not just an idea at this stage then I would welcome any clamp down on the ridiculous exorbitant prices charged by factors, who do the absolute minimum in maintaining their flats and public areas, closes, and back courts. The factor I've had experience with which is one of the biggest in Glasgow H***ing & P***rson - guess the rest, have done less than nothing for our tenants, and charged far higher prices than the optional housing associations factoring charges. People need to put their foot down too, look at their options for factors, and see that if they get together as neighbours on issues like this they can often get better levels of service, and cheaper factoring bills. A majority vote of those in ( i.e.) a close is all thats needed to start the ball rolling, and change over to a cheaper alternative. By being pro-active like this, we can send a message to those Private Factors that we are not prepared to pay for such a minimal service.

THIS ARTICLE IS A SCANDALOUS SLUR ON FACTORS WHO IN GENERAL DO AN EXCELLENT JOB AND ONLY CHARGE ENOUGH TO COVER THEIR COSTS AND MAKE ENDS MEET GOD BLESS OUR HARD WORKING FACTORS

Did somebody say something Zzzzzzzzz!!!

I never use GHA for any repairs, I did once and was robbed. never again will I let this incompetant bunch of chancers anywhere near my property .Their workers ruptured a water pipe in a tennents loft then they sent the home owners a bill for £50.00 each to pay for the damage they caused.

Heard stories about GHA sending ghost bills for work that was never carried out. And at an official public meeting of The Glasgow Residents Network. See: http://glasgowreside nts.wordpress.com/ Note how links / URL's always appear fragmented - wonder why that is ? Hmmm! But - GHA is one of the culprits for overcharging, of that you can be sure! At least G.C.C. could be held more accountable for their stock handling, and factoring in terms of being elected or not ? Maybe they didn't like the thought of losing their seats when they sold off their housing down the river!

Holy Willie I take it your tongue is firmly in cheek or you work for a factor. My block has a fantastic factor who can manage the property without visiting it for 5 years, can manage to always find contractors who are double the cost of most others and who expects the owners to check the quality of the work done by the contractors. One thing that should be clearly outlawed is any form of rebate or hidden payment made to factors by contractors for winning work. There needs to be a national standard introduced to ensure quality of service and a dispure resolution service.

Having seen what the GHA charge for factoring services in my own are: equates to over ten thousand pound a year over less than forty dwellings. Those GHA don't pay but the private tenants do, its an absolute scandal, how can they charge rent and not show a factor's charge. We waited weeks for rubbish to be clearred and had to watch this paper advertise the GHA as a good land lord, nice bit of cash there for you newspaper... My LHO is an jest, common sense tells you what tenants want, even when they do approach they ignore issues, it for the tenants to decide; no point in employees is there? Could mention the dog dirt on the stairs, but then the GHA LHO and GCC EPO have seen the ****; we as tenants have been eating it form them for years..

most factors are all in the same boat, fees too low, so they need to generate income from other items. and what they want to do is to invest in other things - factoring is a "cash cow". the things they can get up to include a)being their own insurance agent (15-40%), b)keeping settlement discounts - rates vary from 2% to 40%. they pay the contractors less and charge for the full invoice. c)affinity and like agreements whereby for example scottish power will pay the factor NOT to change provider rumoured to be upto 40%. d)placing work with companies they own for costs in excess of the market. e)arranging equipment leases, e.g. for door entryphone equipment, which is often paid for by the owners/tenants anyway - can be in excess of £100 per flat per year for kit worth less than that. [italic][bold]these are all LEGAL but contravene the code of conduct of the property managers and factors association.[/bold][/italic] all you have to do is to have a contract which allows you INDEPENDENT access to their boooks. many factors offer an audit certificate (by their OWN auditors!) regulation is required together with FAIR application of the rules.

I can fully sympathise with the majority of owners who have encountered rogue factoring companies. The best way to stop them is to change factors. Owners should set up their own "Owners Association" this means that all owners become members of the association upon purchase of the property. An "owners association" can be set up with a majority vote of all owners. Once an "owners association" has been set up, then a Bank Account needs to set up with at least 2 signaturies to the account. If owners feel they don't have enough information or expertise to run their own association they can appoint a factor or property management company to help them run the basic day to day running of the property site as well as any major works or repairs that are needed. Having an "owners association" gives all owners the right to voice their own opinions with regard to communal issues, you get to vote on what's important to your property site, the majority vote stands with you and not the factoring or property management company. As with any investment, your home is probably the biggest asset you own , if you don't take an interest in it, the value of it can go down,so why wouldn't you use a service of a good property management company? An "owners association" means that if you choose the wrong factor or property management company, you give them notice of termination and choose a different one. A Notice of Termination of Services should always be written to contract when employing the services of a Factor or Property Management Service. I have a series of individual properties that I personally own and have managed these along with other residential units, to date I can promise you I have not had one single complaint. Giving owners the information they require about their property and how to manage it results in one of two things: 1: They respect and thank you for the information and your expertise in advising them then go on to manage their own site or 2: They respect and thank you for the information and your expertise in advising them and appoint you to manage their property site for them. I would be happy to answer any one else view on this. Dorothy

I own a 5 year old Barratt flat in Finnieston which is factored by Peverel. I received a letter today from the factor proposing to use a company to renew the carpets in the communal areas. The letter only contained one quotation which was at a cost of over £300 for each flat! This seems to be totally excessive and the carpets don't even need to be replaced anyway. I would have thought that the factor should be obtaining 2 maybe 3 quotes for major works before putting them to the owners. Otherwise, how are we to know that the factor isn't just using a company it has a cosy relationship with to line their pockets? I am really annoyed at this as I get the feeling that this factor thinks it can just continually extract money from people without any regard to the budget of the average home owner. Needless to say, I'll be voting against this but I would be pleased to receive any comment from people about this. E. Wilson