Appoint or dismiss a property factor
You can appoint or dismiss a property factor, unless legal conditions in your title deeds called ‘manager burdens’ prevent you from making changes.
You only need to check for manager burdens if you live in:
- sheltered housing that is less than 3 years old
- ex-council or housing association housing
- any other type of house or flat that’s less than 5 years old
How to check if manager burdens affect you.
How to appoint or dismiss a factor
If manager burdens do not apply, you can appoint or dismiss a factor if enough homeowners agree to it.
The number of owners you’ll need to agree will depend on what your title deeds say.
How to get a copy of your title deeds.
You should follow what your deeds say unless they either:
- say that more than two-thirds of owners need to agree
- do not say how to change your factor
If your deeds say more than two-thirds need to agree
You can still appoint or dismiss a factor as long as two-thirds of the owners agree.
This is because another law overrides your deeds in this situation. The law is Section 64 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.
If your deeds do not say how to change your factor
You can appoint or dismiss a factor if more than half of the owners agree. This is called a simple majority.
The law that allows you to do this is Section 28 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.
Contacting other owners
You’ll need to show enough owners agree to appoint or dismiss the factor.
You can do this by organising a vote or meeting of a residents’ association or owners’ group if you have one.
You should make reasonable efforts to contact all the owners about the change. This might include contacting joint owners, landlords and absentee owners.
Under One Roof has information on how to contact owners.
Giving your factor notice
If you’re dismissing a factor, any notice period you need to give them should be set out in the written statement of services they gave you.
The property factor code of conduct requires them to make sure the statement of services includes information on ending the agreement.