How to change your property factor in Scotland: a step-by-step guide for owners and landlords

You can change your property factor in Scotland if a majority of the owners in your block or development agree, unless a manager burden in the title deeds still protects the current factor. Since 1 April 2026, a simple majority is enough to dismiss a factor even where the deeds demand a larger one, because the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 cut the overriding threshold in the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 from two-thirds to a majority. The process is the same for owner-occupiers and landlords: check the deeds, win the vote, appoint a replacement or self-factor, give notice and collect your money back from the outgoing factor.

This guide sets out each step in order. It covers flats and housing developments in Scotland only; leasehold blocks in England and Wales follow different rules. For the wider set of duties that apply to Scottish lets, see our guide for landlords in Scotland.

What changed in 2026

Before April 2026, owners whose deeds set a high bar, such as unanimity or a 75% vote, could still dismiss their factor under section 64 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003, but only with the support of two-thirds of the properties. Section 70 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 replaced “two thirds” with “a majority”, and the commencement regulations apply it to any vote held on or after 1 April 2026. In practice, more than half of the properties can now dismiss and replace a factor in almost every block where no manager burden applies.

The same Act requires registered factors to show their registration number on communications sent from 1 April 2026, which makes it easier to check that a factor you are dealing with, or thinking of appointing, is on the register.

Step 1: check for a manager burden

A manager burden is a condition in the title deeds that gives a developer, a council or a housing association the power to appoint the factor. While it lasts, owners cannot dismiss the factor by majority vote. Under section 63 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003, a manager burden ends at the latest:

Three years after the deed was registered, for sheltered or retirement housing.

Thirty years after the deed was registered, for homes sold under right to buy, which covers most ex-council and housing association flats.

Five years after the deed was registered, in every other case, including most new-build developments.

It also ends earlier if the burden holder no longer owns any of the properties for 90 days in a row. If your building is older than these limits, the manager burden has almost certainly gone and you can move to step 2.

Step 2: find the voting rule that applies

Your title deeds, or a deed of conditions that applies to the whole development, usually say how owners appoint and dismiss a factor. Order a copy from Registers of Scotland if you do not have one. Which rule you follow depends on what the deeds say.

If the deeds set a simple majority, or a lower threshold, follow the deeds.

If the deeds set a higher threshold, a simple majority of properties is still enough to dismiss the factor and appoint a new one, under section 64 of the 2003 Act as amended.

If the deeds say nothing about factors, the owners of a majority of units can appoint or dismiss a manager under section 28 of the 2003 Act.

If you own a flat in a tenement and the deeds are silent, unclear or contradict each other, the Tenement Management Scheme in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 fills the gap. Rule 3.1 lets owners appoint and dismiss a manager, and rule 2.5 makes a decision by majority of all the votes allocated, not just of those who turn up.

Step 3: contact every owner and count the votes

Each flat or house usually carries one vote. Where a property is jointly owned, its vote counts only if the owners of more than half the property agree on it. The majority is of all the properties, so silent owners count against you, which is why reaching every owner matters.

Make reasonable efforts to contact every owner, including joint owners, landlords and owners who live elsewhere. Under the Tenement Management Scheme you can decide at a meeting called on at least 48 hours’ notice, or by consulting each owner in writing and counting their responses. Keep the evidence: a signed list of owners in favour, or minutes of the meeting showing who voted, is what the outgoing factor and any new factor will ask to see. Once the decision is made, every owner must be told the outcome as soon as practicable.

Step 4: choose a new factor or self-factor

Owners do not have to appoint a replacement unless the deeds require a factor. A small block can self-factor, with owners sharing the work of arranging repairs, insurance and cleaning, but someone still has to collect money, keep records and organise common repairs, so most blocks of more than a handful of flats appoint a new factor.

Anyone who manages common property for owners as a business must be registered under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. Search the Property Factor Register before you sign anything. Ask each candidate for its written statement of services, which the Code of Conduct for Property Factors requires it to give you, and compare the management fee, the float it will ask for, how it handles common repairs and how you can end the arrangement later.

The owners can make one decision that dismisses the old factor and appoints the new one, and the incoming factor will often prepare the ballot paperwork and notice for you.

Step 5: give notice to your current factor

Write to the outgoing factor with the decision, the date it was made, evidence that enough owners agreed and the date the appointment ends. The notice period should be set out in the factor’s written statement of services, which must also explain how the arrangement can be ended. Your new factor’s appointment should start on the day the old one ends, so common repairs and the buildings insurance are not left uncovered.

Step 6: get the accounts and your money back

The Code of Conduct sets out what the outgoing factor must do. It must make the account’s financial information available to owners within three months of the arrangement ending, unless there is a good reason to wait, such as outstanding contractor invoices. Unless the title deeds say otherwise, it must return any money owed to owners automatically, less any debts, once the final bill is settled.

That includes the float, the advance most factors hold to pay for repairs between invoices, and any common reserve. The Code requires a factor other than a council or housing association to hold each group’s sinking fund in an interest-bearing account in the owners’ name, so ask for the account to be transferred to the new factor rather than paid out and collected again.

If your factor will not cooperate

The tribunal cannot dismiss or change a factor for you; only the owners can do that, by the process above. What it can do is deal with a factor that breaks the Code of Conduct or its own written statement of services, including a failure to hand over accounts or refund floats. Complain to the factor in writing first and give it time to respond. If that fails, any owner can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). There is no fee to apply, and the tribunal can order the factor to put things right.

If you let out a flat in the block

As the owner, you hold the vote, not your tenant. Factors and other owners often find landlords the hardest owners to reach, and in a block where a majority of all properties is needed, an unanswered ballot works as a vote against change. Among the Scottish landlords we work with at August, the ones who answer ballots quickly tend to get the factor they want, because they help decide the outcome rather than being outvoted.

Your duties to your tenant do not pause while owners argue about the factor. The Repairing Standard requires the structure and exterior of the building, including common parts you are responsible for with the other owners, to be wind and watertight and in reasonable repair, so a factor that leaves a roof leak unfixed is your problem as much as theirs. Keep a dated record of every common repair you report and every invoice you pay. Factoring fees and your share of common repairs are normally allowable expenses against your rental income, and you can log each factor invoice and repair in August alongside the rest of your Scottish compliance records.

Frequently asked questions

Is it compulsory to have a property factor in Scotland?

No, unless your title deeds require one or a manager burden still applies. Many tenements are self-factored, with the owners sharing management between them. If the deeds require a factor, you can still change it, but you must appoint a replacement.

How many owners need to agree to change factor?

A simple majority of the properties, meaning more than half, is enough in most cases. Since 1 April 2026 that is true even where the deeds ask for more, but it does not apply while a manager burden is in force. If your deeds set a lower threshold, you can use that instead.

Can I stop paying my factor if I am unhappy with the service?

Not safely. While the factor is appointed, you remain liable for your share of the costs set out in the deeds and the factor’s statement of services, and the factor can pursue unpaid sums. Complain in writing, apply to the tribunal if the factor has breached the Code, and work with the other owners to dismiss it.

Can the Scottish Government remove my factor?

Not from your building. Only the owners can remove a factor from a property or development. The Scottish Government can remove a factor from the register, and if that happens you will be told and can appoint a new factor or self-factor.