The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 will come into force on 1 October this year and alongside this the Homeowners Housing Panel.

The Act will introduce new rules and regulations for property factors in Scotland. Property factors will require to be registered and to comply with a Code of Conduct. It will also introduce a new dispute resolution procedure for complaints arising from factoring problems or allegations of failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.

With effect from 1 October, the Homeowners Housing Panel (HoHP) will start dealing with applications made under the 2011 Act.

The relevant regulations which set out the procedures to be followed by HoHP were passed by the Scottish Parliament at the end of May. These regulations contain some interesting and new concepts, including:

• Acceptance of email applications
• That a committee must abide by an overriding objective, namely that they should deal with proceedings 'justly'. Criteria are then listed which should be to be considered by the committee in meeting this overriding objective. The committee are entitled to:
  • ?Deal with proceedings in a way which is proportionate to the complexity of the issues
  • Deal with proceedings in a way that is proportionate to the resources of the parties
  • Seek informality and flexibility
  • Ensure parties are on an equal footing
  • Ensure parties can participate fully in the proceedings
  • Assist any party in the presentation of their case
  • Use the special expertise of the committee effectively
  • Avoid delays

The parties themselves are also placed under a duty to assist the committee in this objective.

It will be interesting to see how many applications are made to this new panel. We anticipate that this new panel may quickly find itself dealing with a large volume of complaints from disgruntled homeowners.

The panel will have the power to issue Property Factor Enforcement Orders (PFEOs) where they decide that a factor has failed in their duties. These orders can require action to be taken by the factor to resolve the complaint and can also include payments being made by the factor to the homeowner.

Failure to comply with such an order will be a criminal offence and may lead to withdrawal of registration.

If you are involved in property factoring and require any advice about the introduction of the homeowners housing panel?please do not hesitate to contact us.