Rutherglen’s MP has called out the Scottish Government over concerns raised by residents in Cambuslang over legislation protecting homeowners from poor factoring practices.
Michael Shanks says he is responding to extensive issues around factoring that have been raised by constituents, which highlight how the current law favours factors over the rights of tenants and homeowners.
The Scottish Government officially acknowledged such issues and committed to reform back in 2013. However, despite pressure from MSPs and the public the MP says there’s been no change in either the legal or practice framework.
He has written to Siobhian Brown, Scotland’s Minister for Community Safety, raising concerns of those in the community and questioning if and when the proposed reform will be implemented.
Shanks said: “Since I was elected, I have received numerous enquiries from constituents who are unhappy about factoring arrangements in relation to their properties. Many of these relate to land-owning maintenance companies.
“My constituents are concerned about how they were notified of their obligations under the deeds of conditions in their title deeds and the lack of accountability from factoring companies, particularly regarding the cost, quality of work, and the absence of any input from homeowners.
“The legislation in this area is balanced towards the interests of the factors and change is necessary to protect the rights of tenants and homeowners. The SNP committed to delivering this change almost 10 years ago yet has done nothing to address this issue since.
“The Scottish Government has let this issue fall to the bottom of their list of priorities, and for my constituents that is simply not good enough.”
A petition was lodged by Ewan Miller with the Scottish Parliament in March 2023 to “Review and simplify the legislation in relation to dismissal of property factors”. It is currently still under consideration.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Standards of practice for property factors, including land maintenance companies, which they are required to comply with, are set out in the statutory Code of Conduct.
“The Code of Conduct was updated in 2021 to further help homeowners understand what they should reasonably expect from their property factor and how to hold them to account, requirements on communication with homeowners, financial and charging arrangements, debt recovery procedures, arranging insurance, organising repairs and maintenance and handling complaints.
“We are committed to promoting ongoing improvement in standards in the property factor sector and continue to consider what more can be done, including work being undertaken to prepare a voluntary code of practice for dismissing and replacing land-owning land maintenance companies to assist homeowners.”
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