This page has lots of factoring service information including areas covered by our factoring service, what management fees are, all matters relating to repairs and maintenance, insurance, invoicing and paying fees and how to make a complaint.
What areas of my development are covered by the Factor?
Each property that is factored will have a Written Statement of Services which will specify the Factor’s areas of responsibility within your development.
Typical examples of what is covered include:
| Flatted Properties | Houses |
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Common landscaping Pathways Parking areas Play areas Bin stores Boundary walls, fencing and hedging around communal ground Gutters, downpipes, drains and sewers Communal overflows Roofs, roof tiles, soffits and fascia’s Common area windows and doors Common entrance halls and stairwells Common lighting (internal and external) Door entry systems (handsets within the property are the responsibility of the homeowner) Common TV aerials Buildings Insurance |
Common landscaping Pathways Parking areas Play areas
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What is a Management Fee?
A Management Fee is charged for services provided for the facctoring of the common areas. This fee will generally be reviewed annually, and the Written Statement of Service will set out what this fee covers for your specific property and how and when annual revisions will be made.
Management fees include:
- Carrying out regular inspections of the block/development
- Arranging routine maintenance and repairs of the block/development common parts
- Reacting to customer queries, requests for repair etc.
- Liaising with contractors and tendering for the best service and price to ensure best value for our customers
- Ensuring works are carried out professionally, legally and safely
- If required, facilitating meetings with owners, producing minutes and distributing to owners
- Arranging buildings insurance for the owners within the block/development and providing adequate details to allow owners to make claims
- Administrative costs relating to invoicing, letters and newsletters
- Providing credit control to ensure that everyone is invoiced for their respective share of costs and non-payers are actively pursued
- Working together with solicitors to recover outstanding debts on behalf of the owners within the block/development.
- Liaising with energy suppliers to make sure all charges are accurate and fair
- Making payment of energy invoices and recovering the cost from the owners within the block/development for common supplies
Repairs & Maintenance
What are my responsibilities? If you live in a property with areas of common ownership or maintenance responsibilities, you and the other owners in the block and development will be responsible for the costs of maintaining and repairing these areas.
Flatted Properties
Flat owners are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of their own property. This includes the flat entrance door and flat windows as well as private garden grounds, fences, gates and balconies.
With regard to the common parts of the building i.e. the roof, gutters, downpipes, common close, communal gates and fences, these maintenance costs are shared equally between the owners within the close or block. Your Title Deeds will provide the exact proportion of these costs and this will be detailed in your Written Statement of Services.
In addition to the common property costs, some flat owners must pay a share of the common estate maintenance costs. These proportions relate to the total number of properties within each estate and, in mixed tenure developments, are shared equally with tenants, each of whom pay a separate service charge in addition to their rent for this service.
Houses
If you live in a house, you are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of your own property, garden grounds, driveway and perimeter fencing.
Like some flat owners, you must pay a share of the common estate maintenance costs. These proportions relate to the total number of properties within each estate and, in mixed tenure developments, are shared equally with tenants, each of whom pays a separate service charge in addition to their rent for this service.
Your Written Statement of Service details the share which must be paid towards the upkeep of the common parts of the estate.
Can the Factor instruct repairs without my authority?
The Association has a delegated “authority to act” limit which is defined in your Written Statement of Services. This limit allows us to instruct and have carried out repairs and maintenance to the common parts provided that the anticipated cost of the repair or maintenance at the time when it is instructed, will not exceed this limit. If the anticipated cost of any such item exceeds the limit, we will seek the permission of the homeowner’s first.
In an emergency, where the integrity of the building is severely compromised or personal health and safety is at risk, the Association will arrange emergency work as required, irrespective of the level of cost.
How do I Report a Common Repair?
To report a common repair Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4pm please:
Email: [email protected]
Click and complete the Website Report a Repair Form
Call: 0800 678 1228
We also operate an Out of Hours service for emergency repairs to common areas and will provide a make safe repair until the full repair can be completed in working hours.
Emergency Repairs Service call BR24 0800 783 7937
5pm to 9am Monday to Thursday and 4pm Friday until 9am Monday
Please remember the Out of Hours Service will only attend emergency communal repairs.
Is My Property Covered by the Common Insurance Policy?
Most of the flatted properties we manage are covered by a block buildings insurance policy arranged by the Association. If you are not sure if your property is included on the policy, you can check your latest invoice, where there will be a charge for insurance on your bill if your property is included.
We do not provide contents insurance to cover your personal possessions, and for your own peace of mind, we strongly recommend that you take out adequate contents insurance.
A Summary of Insurance Cover can be obtained from our office - call us on 0800 678 1228 or email [email protected] for a copy.
It is important to remember that we only arrange the buildings insurance on your behalf and take no part in the claims procedure. When you make a claim against the buildings insurance policy, you will pay an excess charge directly to the insurance company.
How will I receive my factoring invoice?
The billing frequency for your property will be outlined in your Written Statement of Services.
What should I do if I have a question about my invoice?
If you have a query about any charges on your invoice please contact us via the website link, email [email protected] or call 0800 678 1228.
If you want to dispute any item on your invoice, you should raise this within fourteen days of receiving the invoice. Other items on that invoice or any other invoice from us should still be paid by the due date while we investigate the disputed item.
How do I pay my factoring costs?
You can pay your invoice by the following methods:-
- Direct debit - call us on 0800 678 1228 with your account number and sort code and we will set this up
- Bank transfer - full details on the invoice
- Debit or credit card over the telephone, call us on 0800 678 1228
- By cheque made payable to the Association
- At any Pay Point
Further details of how to make payments are stated on our invoices.
What should I do if I am having difficulty making payment?
If you are finding it difficult to afford payment of your Factoring charges please contact us as soon as possible. We are keen to help you, and we can make arrangements with you to pay any arrears to us in regular manageable amounts.
If you do not contact us, or if you do not keep to your agreement for repayment, we will take legal action against you. Our Debt Recovery Procedure sets out the steps we will follow when you have failed to make payment. This includes action we will take to recover the debt. You would be responsible for all legal expenses incurred, in addition to the arrears balance.
A full copy of our Debt Recovery Procedure is available from our office on request.
If you are having difficulty paying your factoring costs please contact us as soon as possible. We offer advice and links to organisations that can support you.
We are here to help.
Do I need to notify the Factor if I am selling my property?
If you sell your home, you should notify the Association at least four weeks' before the intended date of change of ownership and include details of the names of the incoming owner, the date of the proposed change and your forwarding address. Your Solicitor will often provide us with this information on your behalf as part of their conveyancing service.
On receipt of notification of the sale, the Association will arrange to apportion the charges and sums due by the outgoing owner to the date of sale
Do I need to notify the Factor if I am letting out my property?
If you let out your property, you are still responsible for paying the common charges.
If you are letting your property or are planning to be away from the property for an extended period, it is also important that you provide the Association with a correspondence address and details of how to contact you, or a key holder, in the case of an emergency.
All private landlords must be registered with their local authority.
The aim of landlord registration is to ensure that all private landlords are "fit and proper" to be letting residential property. The requirement helps local authorities to remove disreputable landlords from the market and to protect tenants and their neighbours from the impact of antisocial behaviour and mismanaged property in the wider community.
To register as a private landlord, or to search the register, please visit www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk.
How do I make a complaint?
We are committed to providing quality services that meet the individual needs of all of our customers – and we set high standards to try to make sure we achieve this. We also know our customers have similarly high expectations of us.
We know there can be occasions where we fall short of our standards or do not fully meet these expectations. We have a detailed Complaints Handling Procedure that is designed to help us resolve any customer dissatisfaction quickly and as close to the point of service delivery as possible. It is based on a two-stage approach:
Complaints Handling Procedure: The 2-Stage Process
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 |
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Straightforward complaints are handled quickly at this stage. Stage 1 complaints should take no longer than 5 working days to resolve. We would hope, for example, to be able to resolve many Stage 1 complaints by offering an ‘on the spot’ apology or explanation of why an issue occurred and what we will do to stop it happening again. |
Complaints at this stage are more complicated or need further investigation than Stage 1. 20 working day target applies to Stage 2 complaints. In practice, we will always aim to take less time than this.
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You can make a complaint by:
- completing the website contact form
- completing the paperless, electronic version of the complaints form created in survey monkey
- emailing [email protected]
- speaking to a member of staff in person
- phoning 0800 678 1228
- sending a letter to our office at 167 Main Street, Renton, West Dunbartonshire, G82 4PF
Further detail on our Complaints Handling Procedure can be found in this leaflet.
Anyone who remains dissatisfied at the end of our complaints process can ask the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) to investigate the matter.
The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland provides the possibility for issues between homeowners and property factors to be impartially resolved.
Applications can be made to the Housing and Property Chamber First-tier Tribunal for Scotland where a homeowner believes that the property factor has failed to comply with their factoring duties or the Property Factors’ Code of Conduct.
Housing and Property Chamber
First-tier Tribunal for Scotland
Glasgow Tribunals Centre
20 York Street
Glasgow
G2 8GT
Telephone: 0141 302 5900
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.housingandpropertychamber.scot
Document Links:
Shared Owner Handbook
Information on the Closed Right to Buy Scheme
Cordale Housing Association's Complaints Handling Procedure
Contact Details
You can contact us with any questions or queries about your factoring service
- email [email protected]
- complete the website contact form
- call 0800 678 1228 Monday to Thursday 9a,m to 5pm Friday 9am to 4pm
- for EMERGENCY Out of Hours Repairs please call BR24 0800 783 7937 (5pm to 9am Monday to Thursday and 4pm Friday until 9am Monday)
