Tenements & Townhouses
Tenements & TownhousesFactoring · Roofs · Stone Request a building check
Glasgow & the West of Scotland

Good stone, a sound roof, and neighbours who never have to chase anyone.

We're property factors and building-care specialists for Victorian and Edwardian sandstone tenements and townhouses. Our own roofers go up, and you get the photos.

  • WhatFactoring, roofing, rhones, stonework and planned maintenance for shared and period buildings.
  • WhereGlasgow and the wider West, from Paisley and Inverclyde to Bute, Argyll and Lanarkshire.
  • Why usTrade-trained people who inspect, photograph and repair the buildings they manage.
  • StartAsk for a building check. We visit, report back in plain English and quote a fixed fee.
Request a building check Take the 2-minute health check
Curved blond sandstone tenement with stacked bay windows in Hillhead, Glasgow
The Hillhead tenement Avril Paton painted in "Windows in the West."Photo: dshaw · CC BY-SA 3.0
One fixed monthly feeManagement is one clear fee. Works are quoted separately, before anything starts.
Photographed, every timeBefore, during and after pictures of every repair go on your building's record.
A yearly condition reportWhat's sound, what's slipping, what to budget for, and grants that may apply.
Registered and regulatedProperty Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 and the Code of Conduct. Register no. TBC
What a factor looks after

Everything outside your own front door, and inside the building.

A factor manages the parts you own in common with your neighbours. Tap any part of the building to see what tends to go wrong and what we do about it.

How a building is looked after

Planned, not reactive.

The same six steps for every building, whether it's a slipped slate or a full re-roof.

  1. InspectRegular visits, from the back court to the chimney heads.
  2. ReportPhotos and plain-English notes, shared with every owner.
  3. QuoteCompetitive prices for anything beyond routine upkeep.
  4. AgreeOwners approve where the deeds or the law require it.
  5. OverseeOur team runs the job and checks the work on the roof.
  6. RecordPhotos, invoices and warranties filed against your building.
The roof comes first

Most damage to a tenement starts at the top.

A slipped slate or a blocked rhone lets water into the stone and the top-floor ceilings long before anyone sees a stain. Our in-house team is trained in traditional slate, lead and stone.

Roofer fixing slates on a West End tenement roof
Slate repairs on a West End tenement
A rhone full of blossom petals beside a slate roof, seen from scaffolding
A spring rhone before clearing
Roof being re-slated over new blue breathable membrane and battens
Re-slating over new membrane and battens
Cherry picker lifting a roofer to the eaves of a red sandstone tenement
Cherry picker access to a red sandstone tenement
Gloved hand checking a crack in a carved sandstone cornice
Checking a cracked cornice
Scaffold tower against a sandstone tenement in Hyndland
Scaffold for roof works in Hyndland
Slate is a local storyMany older Scottish roofs carry native slate from quarries such as Ballachulish. Sound old slate is scarce now, so we save and reuse what we can.
Rhones need a rhythmLeaves, moss and blossom block them every year. Clearing them on a schedule is the cheapest repair a building will ever have.
Safe access, no guessworkScaffold, cherry picker or drone. We choose the access the job needs and show owners what we found.
Two-minute building health check

How well is your building looked after?

Six honest questions. Nothing is sent anywhere. Answers are filled in with an example so you can see how it works.

    Curved terrace of sandstone townhouses at Park Circus, Glasgow
    Scaffold on a sandstone terraced townhouse
    Row of chimney stacks on the Park Circus terrace
    And the townhouses

    The same care for the grand old terraces.

    A sandstone townhouse has the same roof, the same chimneys and the same stone as a tenement, often with one owner carrying all of it.

    • Annual roof and chimney inspection with a photo report
    • Rhone and downpipe clearing on a set schedule
    • Slate, lead, chimney and stonework repairs by our own team
    • A ten-year plan so big bills are expected, not sudden

    Split into flats? In Scots law a building divided horizontally into two or more flats is a tenement, whatever it looks like from the street. That means shared responsibilities, and we can factor it.

    Changing factor

    You're not locked in.

    Unhappy with slow replies, unclear bills or repairs that never happen? Changing factor is simpler than most owners expect, if it's done properly.

    Tenement talk

    A wee glossary.

    The words you'll hear on the stair, and in our reports.

    Glazed ornamental wall tiles at the entrance to a tenement close
    Glazed tiles at a close entrance, the "wally" in wally close. Photo: Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0
    Victorian sitting-room fireplace with green tiles in the Tenement House museum
    The sitting room at the Tenement House, Garnethill, kept as it was in the early 1900s. Photo: Glen Bowman · CC BY 2.0
    Snow on the roofs of a long street of red sandstone tenements
    Red sandstone tenements after snow. Photo: alisdair · CC BY 2.0
    Drone view over Park Circus and the West End rooftops
    West End rooftops from the drone, Park Circus at the centre.
    Where we work

    Based in the West End. Working across the West.

    GlasgowPaisleyGreenockInverclydeLargsIsle of ButeIsle of CumbraeArgyllFort WilliamStirlingshireLanarkshire

    In Glasgow: Hyndland, Partick, Hillhead, Dowanhill, Kelvinside, Finnieston, Park and the Southside.

    Questions owners ask

    Straight answers.

    Do all the owners have to agree to a repair?

    Usually not. Your title deeds come first. Where they don't cover it, the Tenement Management Scheme in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 generally lets a majority of owners decide, with one vote per flat. Any owner can instruct genuinely urgent work to stop damage or a danger to health. We explain the rules for your building before anyone votes.

    Who pays for the roof?

    It depends on your title deeds. Where the Tenement Management Scheme applies instead, roof costs are generally shared equally, or by floor area where the flats differ a lot in size. Every quote we issue shows each owner's share.

    What does factoring cost?

    We quote one fixed monthly management fee for your building after we've inspected it. Repairs and works are quoted separately and agreed before they start, so nothing arrives as a surprise.

    Who regulates property factors?

    Factors in Scotland must be registered with the Scottish Government and follow the Code of Conduct under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. If an owner has a complaint we can't resolve, they can take it to the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber).

    Will switching factor stop repairs already under way?

    No. We plan the handover so ongoing works, insurance and building funds carry on, and records and balances transfer from the outgoing factor.

    Can you just do the roof without factoring the building?

    Yes. Owners, factors and letting agents can instruct our roofing and stonework team directly.

    Start with a building check

    Tell us about your building.

    We'll arrange a visit, look at the roof and the common parts, and send a short report with a fixed factoring quote.

    Office14 Fordyce Street, Flat 3/3, Partick, Glasgow G11 5PQ

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