A groundbreaking project which will help tenants and home owners tackle issues around property factoring and landlord disputes with the help of a DIY kit is to be launched in Govanhill.

The Public Legal Education Project will be launched in February by the Govan Law Centre as a pilot for one year and will train local people on how they can protect their rights with the help of letter templates, application forms and housing advice.

Residents will be equipped with all the information and resources they need to tackle factors and landlords at new tribunal systems which come into force later this year as a result of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act which was passed in 2011.

It is hoped that as many as 1000 people could benefit from seminars, public meetings, DIY resources and intensive support, with a further 1000 householders who could broadly gain because they will be affected by the influence of the campaign.

Mike Dailly, Principal Solicitor at Govan Law Centre, said: "Over the last four or five years we’ve seen huge problems with property factors in Govanhill.

"The new legislation is focussed on how we can sort out bad factors and absentee landlords who are only interested in maximising their money and not making repairs or being responsible.

"Some people who lived in Govanhill have already voted with their feet.

"And so we want to be clever about how we tackle this. We will empower people with the knowledge and information they need to sort things out and get results for themselves.

"If they run in to problems then we can take up the case at the law centre and they will know that if they get into difficulty we will be there to help."

Issues around a lack of communal maintenance, payment for communal repairs and charges for factoring could all be fought with the help of the new project.

Since the Govanhill Law Centre opened up three years ago as a branch of the Govan Law Centre, hundreds of people have had their employment, housing and welfare issues dealt with by the team of dedicated solicitors.

The new project will be funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - which distributes grants to projects which break new ground and bring about social change - and will be delivered by a new solicitor post at the centre.

Mr Dailly added: “We’ve been tackling these issues but we appreciate the limitations of dealing with this problem with a small resource that’s why the Public Law Education Project is so powerful.

“We will produce this information and the beauty of it is that the information could be used by people across Glasgow for free.”

Problems with rogue landlords and bad factoring have increased across Glasgow in the last few years, with Govanhill seen as a particular hotspot for trouble.

Overcrowding, anti social behaviour complaints and a lack of communal maintenance are just some of the problems which have stemmed from issues with absentee private landlords in the area.

In December, nearly 100 people from across Glasgow came together to to form the Glasgow private rented sector working group, calling for tougher regulation and better enforcement of existing regulation locally.

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