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You may decide that the best and most hassle-free way of keeping up with maintenance and repair work is to hire a property manager or factor to take care of it for you. In some cases, your title deeds may state that you have to hire a property manager. This page explains what managers and factors do.

What does a property manager or factor do?

Property managers or factors can do a combination of the following jobs:

• hiring, supervising and paying day-to-day maintenance employees, such as a caretaker, cleaner or gardener
• organising owners' meetings so you can make decisions about the running of the building
• inspecting the building at agreed intervals and arranging to get any necessary maintenance work carried out, including hiring contractors and overseeing their work
• arranging for repairs to be carried out, including getting quotes, hiring contractors and supervising their work
• dealing with any complaints owners have about the maintenance or repair work
• taking charge of a joint maintenance bank account, collecting payments and chasing up anyone who doesn't pay
• organising common insurance for the building.

Do we need a property manager or factor?

In some situations, you may have to hire a property manager or factor. This may be the case if:

• your title deeds state that this is compulsory
• you live in a newly built development
• you've bought your flat through the right to buy system.

If hiring a property manager isn't obligatory, you and the other owners in your building may decide to hire one anyway, to reduce the stress of managing the property yourselves (see 'how do we hire a property manager or factor' below).

Newly built developments

If you live in a newly built flat, the developer may have the right to appoint a property manager of their own choosing for up to five years after the property is built, or three years if you live in sheltered or retirement accommodation. This means you won't be able to choose your own manager until this time is up.

Right to buy properties

If you've bought your flat through the right to buy scheme, the council or housing association you bought it from may have the right to appoint a property manager of their own choosing for up to 30 years, or until two-thirds of the flats in your block have been sold through right to buy.

Is it worth hiring a property manager or factor?

Property managers and factors do of course charge for their services, and the more responsibilities they have, the more you'll need to pay them. However, this may be worth it if dividing repair and maintenance tasks between the owners proves to be awkward, time consuming or stressful. This may be the case if, for example, many of the owners don't live in the building, are difficult to get hold of, are too busy or simply aren't interested. In addition, the manager or factor will be an expert in running properties and hiring suitable contractors, and can advise you on repair and maintenance issues.

How do we hire a property manager or factor?

Your title deeds may set out a process for hiring a property manager or factor. If they don't, you can make a decision using the process set out in the tenement management scheme (TMS).

Normally, your title deeds take precedence over the TMS. However, if your title deeds say that everyone in the building must agree before you can hire or fire a property manager, you can override this, because in practice this will make hiring or firing anyone very difficult. In this situation, if two-thirds of the owners in your building decide to hire or fire a manager, they can do so.

Everyone has to pay their share of the manager's fees, even if they voted against their appointment.

Where can we find a property manager?

You can find a property manager at the Property Managers Association Scotland Limited website. All members of the Association must keep to a code of practice, which requires them to work to a high standard. Alternatively, your local council may run a property managing service for owners - check your council's website to find out.

What if we're unhappy with the property manager?

Any property manager or factor who's a member of the Property Managers Association should have a formal complaints process in place, to deal with any problems. If you're not happy with the service they're providing, you should first make a complaint using this process. If you're not satisfied with the outcome, you can then complain to the Property Managers Association.

If your manager isn't a member of the Property Managers Association, you should write to the manager to make a complaint. If this has no effect, you can get help from your solicitor, or your local trading standards office.

The Govan Law Centre website has more information about dealing with problem property managers, and includes sample letters you can download to help sort the problems out.