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Showing results for tags 'factors'.
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Mine is, allegedly. My wife and I have lived in our tenement flat, factored by the local housing association, for 15 years. Over that time, we've been consulted on, and billed for, various minor maintenance and repair issues on top of our standard factoring bills, but never anything relating to the fabric of the building or the roof. Then out of the blue on Friday, we got a letter from the factor telling us that a survey had revealed that the building and roof need an estimated £91,000 of 'emergency repairs', and summoning us to a meeting to discuss costs to individual residents. Having been sent a copy of the survey, it appears that long-term neglect has played a large part in the building being allowed to get into the state it's apparently in. The worst thing is that we put the flat on the market several weeks ago, having spent a few thousand on redecorating, storage facilities, estate agents, home report, etc. The home report noted nothing beyond some 'weathering', and certainly no immediate causes for concern. However, now that we've received this letter from the factors, we would of course have to declare it to any potential buyers, which would in effect make the house unmortgageable, so we've had to take it off the market for now, despite getting a couple of notes of interest earlier last week. I suspect that what will happen at this meeting tomorrow is that we'll be told that there are grants available to cover some of the costs, but that the residents (there are 6 flats in the block) will have to pay the balance, and that we'll then be asked to vote on it. It's a shite situation either way - if the residents vote against, then we're probably stuck in an unmortgageable property; if we all vote for, then the chances are that our share of the costs will eat up all the money we've saved for a deposit and then some, and we'll be stuck here anyway. However, my bigger gripes are that a) the factors should probably be admitting liability for neglecting the place so badly and bearing a significant part of the costs, but won't, and b) they've only presented us with a single estimate, and from what I've heard, I don't think they're above encouraging the contractors to exaggerate the extent and cost of repairs needed. A friend who went through something similar, but with a different factor, several years ago, ended up having to sell at auction and, in real terms, making a pretty heavy loss on his flat . So I guess what I'm asking in a roundabout way (tl;dr etc.) is, has anyone here had a similar experience and if so, do you have any advice that might provide hope for a happier outcome than the one I'm anticipating?
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