FAQ
This
legal document outlines your responsibilities and obligations in terms of the
titles of your property. An
example of this would be: The
Deed of Conditions says that each owner’s responsibility extends to
“maintenance, repair and when necessary the renewal of non-adopted roadways,
pavements, kerbs, laybys, play areas and areas of hard and soft landscaping”
and “the sweeping, cleansing and lighting” of non-adopted areas in the estate,
which includes litter picking and the removal of rubbish from these non-adopted
areas. Adopted and non adopted areas are determined by the Local
Authority. This is turn determines whether the maintenance of an area is undertaken
by the Local Authority or whether it is the responsibility of the home owner. Council Tax is paid to your local authority (eg. East
Ayrshire Council) to meet the cost of maintenance items which come under the
council’s responsibility eg refuse collection, recycling, adopted areas. Council Tax does not
cover the maintenance of non adopted areas within each estate which are the joint
responsibility of all owners in the area. This varies from estate to estate, but generally the common
responsibility of the home owners within the estates includes: The plans we have included within this website are overlaid to help show maintenance responsibilities more clearly. The majority of owners within your estate appointed us.
Atrium Initiatives, now Choice Places, has been undertaking this role for
a number of years, however in 2010 and again in 2012, we wrote to all owners
seeking authority to act as factor. The Deed of Conditions makes provision for
this to be changed if the majority of owners so wish. There are a number
of commercial factoring agents who operate in the area, any of whom would have
the skills and experience needed to undertake the work. Yes, you can change factors, provided the majority of the owners in an estate vote in
favour of the change. For obvious reasons we would not want to stop grass
cutting, tree pruning, planting, etc. unless an alternative service is in
place. Therefore, to avoid major maintenance problems, we would continue to
exercise the role of manager unless, and until, the majority of owners in an
estate vote to replace us with another body, and so long as it is cost
effective for us to do so. At the beginning of each year and the end of each financial
year, statements of accounts are prepared showing the estimated expenditure for
the year to come and the actual expenditure for the year past. Individual
statements are circulated to all owners, who can be provided, within reason,
with further details of any items of expenditure upon request. Formal open area inspections are carried out 3 times per
year. These are open to all owners and are attended by contractors and Choice
Places staff. We invite local authority officials and representatives from the
local community council or residents association. These inspections allow an audit of works which have
taken place, future works to be identified and any maintenance issues to be
addressed. In addition, ad hoc inspections are carried out throughout the year
by Choice Places and contractors. We value the ongoing input from owners and
interested parties as our eyes and ears on site. Following a plan of works being agreed for each estate,
Choice Places carries out an extensive and transparent procurement process to
ensure the best value contractors are appointed for both hard and soft
landscaping. The procurement process includes open tendering, short listing and
one-to-one negotiation to ensure quality of provision and value for money. Due to the cost attached to open tendering, (which is
transferred to the owner as part of our administration fee), new contractors are normally appointed on a 3 year basis. This
is a best value decision, as it keeps the administration cost of the tender
low, but also means contractors can give their best price as they have security
in the contract for 3 years, provided they deliver the quality of service as well. A plan of works is agreed through consultation with owners,
community representatives and Choice Places specialist staff. All owners are
welcome to have their say at the 3 open area inspections held annually within
their estate. All owners will also be notified and invited to any additional
consultation forums appropriate to their estate. The role of the factor
is to determine what works are carried out in accordance with the Deeds of
Conditions. Following consultation, a plan of works will be determined covering
‘maintenance, repair or renewal’. Yes. Your ongoing factoring bill covers low cost
maintenance, repair and low level renewal works. Where more substantial renewal
works are required, the costs will be spread over a number of years, and
planned in advance. This allows you, the owner to plan ahead and spread the
cost of the work, avoiding a large bill. It also ensures that Choice Places has
the necessary funds in place before entering into a contract on your behalf. If you live in a flat, as well as contributing towards the
maintenance of open areas in the general estate, you will have specific
responsibilities in relation to the block of flats in which you live. The
additional responsibilities will be detailed in your Title Deeds. The Title
Deeds will describe which items are the shared responsibilities of all owners
in the block and how costs are divided between owners. It is common for
owners to use a ‘factor’ or manager to ensure that routine repairs and
maintenance are carried out, the appropriate shares recovered and that all
owners have adequate insurance. We arrange this insurance through a block
policy which is much more cost effective than every individual owner buying
their own. Matters which are considered to be an emergency (i.e
circumstances or situations which are considered dangerous or potentially
seriously detrimental to the safety of persons or property), will normally be
actioned within 4 hours to remove the hazard and make the area safe.
Final repairs will be scheduled as necessary. As an agent acting on behalf of owners, Choice Places needs
to ensure it has sufficient funds to procure the maintenance work for your
block. Choice Places therefore requires you to pay in advance. Accounts
can be paid by BACS/Fast Pay, Cheque, Direct Debit or card payment. You have a legal obligation to pay. In addition,
Choice Places is just the agent organising maintenance work on your
behalf. If you don’t pay your bill, we won’t be able to pay the
contractor; if we can’t pay the contractor, then the necessary maintenance will
not get done and your area will suffer. As an agent acting for all owners,
we have a responsibility to take action against non-payers, so failure to pay
can lead to legal action to recover the debts. You need to be aware that
if legal action is taken, it will include an action to recover all legal costs,
over and above the cost of the initial bill. The House Developer for the estate will have appointed a
Property Management Company (Factor) on your behalf. You can find out who this
is by contacting the developer or by visiting the Scottish Property Factor
Register. You can use our Complaints Handling Procedure. A copy of
this is included in your Owners Pack and is available this website under
Current Owners. You can complain in person or in writing. If you are
unhappy with the result of our complaints process, you may have recourse to
take your complaint to the First Tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). Ultimately, if there is widespread dissatisfaction with
Choice Places, you have the right to seek to appoint another factor in our
place. See our Step-by-Step
guide to Changing Factor for more
information. Choice Places provides a quality and comprehensive Factoring
service for its customers at a very competitive and reasonable cost. The activities carried out by Choice Places as estate
manager can be seen in Section B of our written statement. A further breakdown of the detail behind these activities
can be seen below although, it should be noted that this is not an exhaustive
list. Phone Calls: Incoming: Answering estate management queries, taking repair calls,
answering account queries, setting up or changing Direct Debits, setting up
arrangements, taking insurance claim calls/queries, processing payments,
dealing with change of ownership. Outgoing: Speaking to suppliers re quotes/ repairs and estate
management issues, making debt recovery calls, chasing missed instalment
payments, , speaking to solicitors regarding change of ownership, updating
customers on repairs, returning calls on estate management queries or account
enquiries. Correspondence: Invoicing, reminder letters, annual review letters, insurance
renewal, responding to customer complaints, dispute resolution, debt recovery,
sending confirmation of instalments arrangements, apportionments and
confirmation of sales, new owners letters, legal letters, small claims actions,
Notice of Potential Liabilities, consultation letters, answering general email
enquiries. Meetings: Monthly estate walkabouts, ad hoc estate visits to inspect
repairs or queries raised, community council and residents association
meetings, ad hoc meetings with solicitors/sheriff officers/local council and
councillors, meetings with customers who come to office with queries, consultation
meetings, supplier meetings, operational and strategic planning meetings
(review meetings, process management meetings, policy meetings). Other general
operational activities: Producing reports for review (estate inspection report, debt
management, performance management etc), processing and authorising purchase
invoices, general account management (e.g. updating the database system with
notes, uploading correspondence received and amending changes of owner or
address etc.), processing information received regarding trust deeds
bankruptcies and re-possessions, tracing owners, tender and procurement, contract
management, project management of a repair, raising work orders, website
maintenance, written statement production and maintenance, review of changes
and training in legislation (e.g. Property Factors Act and Code of Conduct). Clerk of Works
activities: Inspections as required of identified issues or repairs
(both pre and post work), Report generation including solutions and recommendations,
Stock condition surveys on factored blocks, associated database management. Finance Department
Activities: Maintaining proper and full accounts to include; Processing
invoices, posting payments, cashbook and ledger reconciliations, VAT returns, producing
quarterly management accounts, producing quarterly management reports, paying
suppliers, calculating apportionments, budget management, dealing with supplier
invoicing queries, production of annual invoicing, production of annual
reconciliation statements, processing general account charges (annual charges,
early payment discount charges, late payment charges, instalment charges etc.). What is a Deed of Conditions?
What does ‘adopted’ and ‘non adopted’ mean?
Why do I have to pay Choice Places when I already pay Council Tax?
Which areas are maintained by the local authority and which are not?
Who chose Choice Places to organise this work and why not another property management company?
Can I change property management company?
How do I know what my factoring charge is spent on?
How often is my estate inspected?
How does Choice Places select contractors?
Who decides what work needs done and can I have my say?
Are you planning for the future maintenance of our estate?
I live in a flat. What do I have to pay?
What happens with emergency repairs?
How do I pay my factoring fee?
What if I don’t pay?
I’ve just moved into a new house – will I have a factor and who selected them?
What can I do if I am unhappy with Choice Places?
What is the factoring administration charge?