Wednesday April 29th 2026
Caitlin Stott, Scottish Labour and Cooperative Party candidate for Midlothian North
This View has been written by Caitlin Stott, Scottish Labour and Cooperative Party candidate for the Midlothian North Constituency in the Scottish Parliamentary elections – 7th May 2026.
Thank you to everyone across Midlothian who took the time to respond to my recent survey about property factors, and to all those people who have spoken to me about their experience.
Across Midlothian, people are being hit with high charges, poor service, and little accountability from property factors. For many of us, it feels like a system designed to take money with no questions asked.
Property factors are meant to maintain shared spaces like green areas, stairwells and parking. But in Midlothian, one of the fastest-growing parts of Scotland, more and more residents are moving into properties and being locked into paying fees to a factoring company.
Often, the fees don’t match the service.
People told me about being charged hundreds of pounds with no clear explanation, waiting months for basic repairs, and feeling completely powerless to do anything about it. Many are stuck with a factor, or factors, they didn’t choose, and can’t get out of their contracts.
That’s not right.
Over the past year, I worked on strengthening the Scottish Parliament’s Housing Bill. Alongside Scottish Labour MSPs, I helped develop proposals that would have cracked down on bad practice, forcing greater transparency, giving homeowners more power, and strengthening enforcement.
But those changes were blocked by the SNP government. For years, it has promised action on rogue factors, but meaningful reform keeps getting kicked down the road.
The current law, the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, was meant to fix things but more than 15 years on, it hasn’t kept up with the reality people are facing—especially in fast-growing areas like Midlothian.
In the meantime, more families are being pulled into a system that too often feels like a licence to print money for companies who face little real scrutiny.
That’s why I believe it’s time to take action.
If I am elected on 7 May, I’ll bring forward a Member’s Bill to tighten regulation of property factors. My legislation will ensure:
Transparency – no more hidden fees or vague charges.
Accountability – real consequences for companies that don’t deliver.
Power for homeowners – making it easier to challenge poor service, switch factor, and ensuring that where factors walk away or fail to deliver, local councils can step in and take over responsibility for shared amenities.
This isn’t about red tape—it’s about stopping people being ripped off in their own homes and making sure communities aren’t left picking up the pieces when the system fails.
Thank you again to everyone who shared their experiences on the doorsteps or through my online survey. If you’ve been affected by a property factor, I want to hear from you. The more evidence we have, the stronger the case for change. You can add your voice here: Labour Surveys
Together we can fix this broken system for good.
