Factor Fees

[noitsnotme]

I'm about to complete the purchase of my current flat in the next two weeks. I've had a look through my paperwork and see no mention of factor fees.

The majority of flat owners I know pay factor fees. Can any of you tell me if/what you pay for factor fees, and if you don't, what is your situation and have you been hit with any major bills? I'm 99% sure I will now be the only owner in my building. The rest are rented, I believe (from HA).

Thanks

I have never heard of factor fees. Are you in England?

No, sorry, forgot to say I'm in Scotland.

Ok, I'm just being curious now but what are they for?

Painting of the close, maintaining the garden, works to the door entry, repairs to the roof. Anything in the communal areas, really.

Ok, it's like service charges in England then. Sorry I have no useful advice for you! In your shoes I think I'd ask the solicitor, maybe some of the paperwork is misskng.

If you're lucky, the HA will factor it. If not, the usual bunch of legal robbers will charge whatever they want as a quarterly charge for doing FA, and three or four times the going rate for repairs

Mine charges £35 a month for factors fees, which I find crazy expensive, but it fluctuates depending on what work has been done etc.

Other flats I looked at were around £70-£90 per quarter (one bed flats in a popular part of the city).

When working out my budget for buying, I had guesstimated roughly £50 a month, so anything less is a bonus. But if they don't charge me anything at all and just hit me with a big bill one month, I need to be prepared.

Bumping

I pay £23 a month for a 1 bed flat in Glasgow. Biggest bill I've had in 15 years of ownership was £800ish for a close floor repair. Luckily everyone in my building pays up, as it's a nightmare if some don't. You are left with either coughing up for their share amongst yourselves or not getting the work done.

Prosecco did you have to pay that in a oner, and before the works were done? As I say, I think I'll be the only owner in my building, so if they billled me and I couldn't pay, that would be awkward. Are they all owned in yours?

Yep, paid it at once, but knew in advance that the bill was coming as I was notified by letter. We all had to pay up before the work was done. Not all owner-occupied at the time (I'm a LL).

In my previous tenement, there were 1-2 people out of 12 who didn't pay up so the rest of us covered their share (only £50-ish or so extra each) but it meant work could go ahead.

We had an absolute nightmare with factors in Glasgow, never really getting to the bottom of what the fees were for and why so astronomical - worked out between 150-200 a month!! Less in Spring and more in Autumn as started as biannual bills before we became wise to this and paid monthly. These were not mentioned at the time of purchase and as we moved from England were very naive. Definitely ask to see old invoices etc....

So Peanuts, did you pay monthly as opposed to getting bills for works as and when they happened? What if there was major works?

I've phoned now and the HA assistant said they think it's an annual charge, but they'll confirm and let me know.

I own a flat in Scotland and there is no factor company employed.

Little, so how do you manage these things in you building?

£50 a month on standing order, DH regularly gets a cheque back due to overpayment.

I pay £43 p/m but that includes cleaner for close, windows & back green, building ins & factor fee. We used to be self factoring but 18 yrs of that left the whole close in need of remedial work to get it up to scratch before we got factor in place. We got our close repainted a few months ago & it wasn't billed separately as it was part of the service we pay for. I think we get s bargain for the £43.

All the flats are privately owned and they are all let out. If there's an issue, one of us arranges repair, pays in full then the others pay back their share. It stipulates in the tenancy agreements that tenants must keep communal areas and the garden tidy. I've only had to take one of the other landlords to the small claims court once. It's really not unusual for there not to be a factor.

Okay, thanks for all the replies.

The block is far from anything fancy, certainly no cleaner paid for and I have arranged my own building insurance as thought that was standard . Theres been no major works in the years I've been here, and since the others are owned by the HA, I'm not expecting them to go OTT on anything. Hopefully my £50 budget well covers me, or averages out on an annual charge.

Unless there's a lift in the property, that sounds reasonable; hopefully it will be less.

My factor is an HA too - you might want to get in touch & find out if there is a block policy already in place. Did the seller not give you any info on it? Might not be too late to ask for the details on the arrangements. I'd be surprised if the HA owns/rents out the rest of the flats but doesn't ensure the close is maintained. We couldn't appoint our factor until the property had been brought up to the standard required for their ins cover. It's also worth knowing that some ins cover is invalid if the property is not properly maintained. That info, along with a story of a tenement in the west end where the front sandstone walls collapsed, persuaded the previously reluctant land lords to agree to the factor being appointed.

Sorry, have you lived there years & now just buying the flat? I misread - I thought you were buying from someone else!

What does it say in the Home report It is a ? in the property questionnaire
Your solicitor will ask the seller's solicitor if there is a factor and if not how common repairs are dealt with

Yes, I'm buying it now, from my HA. There is no home report because I'm buying it under right to buy, just a valuation done by my lender.

There is a part in my offer to sell which says: "The ground burdens, buildings insurance premiums, common charges and repairs and other outgoings (if any) will be apportioned as if the date of entry."