Information

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Who needs to register

Property factors generally manage or maintain land used for residential purposes. This land needs to be either owned or available for use by 2 or more people.

For local councils and housing associations, the land needs to be either owned or available for use by them and at least 1 more person.

This could be common parts of land connected to a residential building, such as:

  • stairwells
  • shared gardens
  • roof space
  • external walls

It could also be common land between those properties, such as:

  • fences
  • hedges
  • paths
  • parks
  • woodland

There's a legal definition for property factors, which you should consider when deciding whether you need to register. See section 2 of the Property Factors Act 2011 for this definition.

If you're not sure

It's up to an applicant to decide if what they're doing counts as working as a property factor.

If you're not sure, you could be a property factor if:

  • the work you plan on doing is a business arrangement
  • you're planning to charge a fee or taking any other type of payment (If not, this does not necessarily mean you're not working as a property factor)
  • you're planning to do regular work in managing or arranging maintenance of common land for residential properties

If you're doing some or all of these things, you probably do need to apply to enter the register.

If you're still not sure, there's guidance available from the Scottish Government that helps you decide.

You may also want to get legal advice on whether you need to register.  

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