The Glasgow Factoring Commission, set-up through Glasgow City Council, has recently produced its Report entitled “CHALLENGES FOR FACTORING IN GLASGOW: KEY ISSUES FOR THE MANAGEMENT, MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF TENEMENT AND FLATTED HOUSING IN GLASGOW”.
A number of key industry personnel contributed to the work of the Commission and ultimately its Draft Report and Recommendations. While the Report understandably concentrates on Glasgow, the findings in the Report are equally evident throughout Scotland. Similarly, the recommendations for solutions could be considered on a nationwide scale.
The importance of property factoring in Glasgow is illustrated by the statistic in the report that nearly three quarters of all homes in the city, where there are shared common building elements, require a property factoring service. Property factors are acknowledged as providing a key role in the ongoing maintenance and repair of the city’s housing stock.
Early into the investigations, the Commission changed their focus from the problem of poor service to a number of maintenance and funding related areas which quite alarmingly, they state, “If not comprehensively addressed in the short to medium term, will lead to significant and possibly irreversible damage to the economic and social fabric of hitherto stable areas of Glasgow.”
At Hacking and Paterson Management Services we have been consulted on many occasions at local and national Government level for our input into making recommendation for the maintenance, repair and factoring of common property. We have been saying for many years that formal common property inspections linked to maintenance plans and adequate funding would have a major impact on the condition of the country’s housing stock. It would serve to preserve the condition of the property, allow Homeowner to budget and plan for adequate repair and maintenance and ensure that the taxpayer was not burdened with providing funds from the public purse to rectify, and in many occasions rescue dilapidated properties.
The Glasgow Factoring Commission has also identified this as a way forward and recommends that over and above the current requirements in the Home Report, that common property surveys and maintenance plans should become a compulsory feature of the property maintenance system and property valuation process.
It goes on to suggest that sinking funds should be made compulsory for all new developments and furthermore, is looking to establish if this could be applied retrospectively in older tenement properties.
The Commission concludes that owners need to appreciate the costs which come with home ownership and it recognises that the boom in property speculation associated with deregulation of the financial markets in the 1990s and 2000s has ended and that many owners are no longer in a position to be able to afford repairs and factoring charges. They suggest this should not be seen as an excuse, but an opportunity for timely intervention through the Scottish Government.
For access to the full Report, please go to www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=16677&p=0
If you would like to find out how we can assist homeowners with forward planning for your property maintenance please contact our Facilities Manager, Jamie Elder at JElder@hackingandpaterson.co.uk, or on 0141 248 5693.
