AI coworker

An AI coworker for property factors in Scotland

A property factor in Scotland already has a public set of duties. The firm has to be on the register. Homeowners have to receive a written statement of services. Reports have to be taken, repairs arranged in a reasonable time, and owners told what is happening. When the cost is above a threshold, the group has to be consulted. If a complaint is not resolved, the next step is the Housing and Property Chamber.

None of that is a surprise. The work that fills the week is the follow-up around it: a statement that has not gone out after settlement, a repair that has no progress note, an owner who has not heard back within the time the statement promised.

Lorework is an AI coworker for that work. It works through the web systems you already use, on its own computer. This page is written for property factors in Scotland, because the Act, the register and the Code are Scottish.

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The Act, the register and the Code are the starting point

mygov.scot is plain. All property factors in Scotland must be registered on the Scottish Property Factor Register, and must follow the property factor Code of Conduct. It is against the law to operate as a factor without being registered. Registered factors must include their registration number on documents issued to homeowners, and must tell the register team annually which properties they managed in the previous financial year. The public register is at propertyfactorregister.gov.scot.

Those duties come from the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. The current Code of Conduct was published on 14 July 2021 and took effect on 16 August 2021.

None of that is a software feature. It is the framework the routine has to fit.

The written statement of services has to go out, and it has to be used

Section 1 of the Code requires a property factor to provide each homeowner with a comprehensible written statement of services (WSS), setting out the terms and service delivery standards of the arrangement in a simple, structured way. If a homeowner later applies to the First-tier Tribunal, the tribunal will expect the factor to be able to demonstrate how its actions compare with that statement.

The Code also sets timescales. The factor must take all reasonable steps to ensure a copy of the WSS is provided within four weeks of the factor agreeing in writing to provide services, or within four weeks of the date of purchase (the date of settlement) where the factor maintains the common parts — or, if the factor was not told of the purchase in advance, within four weeks of receiving notification (Code section 1.2). A revised statement must go out at the earliest opportunity, and within three months, where a substantial change is required. At other times, the latest statement must be available on request.

The statement itself has to cover, among other things, the factor's authority to act, any delegated authority (for example financial thresholds for instructing works, and when the factor may act without further consultation), the core services, and target times for taking action on routine and emergency repairs. It also has to set out how homeowners can make enquiries, the timescales for responding in writing and by telephone, and the complaints procedure.

The admin around that document is easy to underestimate: issuing it after a settlement, sending a revised version when the service changes, and then actually following the target times and response times the statement promised.

Owner reports, updates and common repairs

Section 6 of the Code, on carrying out repairs and maintenance, requires a factor to have procedures that allow homeowners to notify matters requiring repair, maintenance or attention. Where the factor arranges inspections and repairs, that must be done in an appropriate timescale, and homeowners must be informed of the progress of the work, including estimated timescales for completion — unless the factor has agreed with the group of homeowners a cost threshold below which job-specific progress reports are not required. If work is cancelled, homeowners should be told in a reasonable timescale, including what happens next and what will happen to any money already collected. If requested, the factor must continue to liaise with contractors, within its authority to act, to remedy defects in inadequate work it has organised.

Section 2, on communication and consultation, adds the consultation step that often sits in front of a common repair. A factor must have a procedure to consult all homeowners and seek their consent, in line with the deed of condition or the agreed contract, before providing work or services that will incur charges or fees beyond the core service. The exceptions are an agreed level of delegated authority, in writing, to incur costs up to a threshold, or to act without further approval in certain situations, such as emergencies. The factor should respond to enquiries and complaints within the timescales in the WSS, and should keep the homeowner informed if it cannot respond within the agreed timescale. The property factor registered number must be included in any document sent to a homeowner.

A common repair in a tenement or a development is, in practice, a many-to-one version of that path: one report, several owners to update, a consultation if the cost is over the threshold, a contractor to chase, and a cancellation or delay note if the work slips. The legal framework is Scottish. The bottleneck is the follow-up.

When the file is thin, the next step is the Chamber

Every factor must have a written complaints process. mygov.scot tells homeowners to follow that process in writing, and to keep copies. If they are not satisfied, they can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). The application is free. The tribunal will only accept it once the factor's complaints process has been completed, and the homeowner must include copies of the complaints, any responses, and a copy of the written statement of services if they have one. For issues on or after 16 August 2021, the form is C2.

That is a different application from a letting-agent Code of Practice case, but the operational lesson is similar. A missing update, an unanswered repair report, or a statement of services that was never issued is what a thin file looks like when the form arrives.

What an AI coworker does in a factoring firm

Your team works with Lorework in chat. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything. Follow-ups, checks and owner updates can run as scheduled, recurring tasks.

Typical starting bottlenecks in a Scottish factoring firm are:

Issuing the written statement of services after a settlement, or a revised statement when the service changes, and chasing if it has not been acknowledged.
Taking an owner report and sending the progress updates the Code expects, including estimated timescales, and a note if work is cancelled.
Consultation messages when a common repair is above the firm's delegated-authority threshold, and the follow-up until owners have responded.
Enquiry and complaint acknowledgements within the timescales in the written statement, including a holding note if the firm cannot meet the agreed time.
Recurring checks, such as a weekly sweep of open repairs with no recent owner update, or statements still due after settlement.

Lorework does not register the firm, draft the written statement of services, decide whether works need consultation, instruct contractors, or handle the firm's complaints process or a tribunal application. Those stay with the firm. It takes on the admin around that work.

How you teach it the way your firm works

You do not have to write a technical specification. Your team teaches Lorework your procedures and templates, in chat, the way you would brief a new starter — a written-statement issue, an owner update, a consultation message. You can ask it in chat, or set recurring work on a schedule.

It works in the web systems you already use, on its own computer. There is no need to rip out the systems you already run. The property factor registered number still has to appear on documents issued to homeowners, in the way the firm already does it.

How a firm starts

Start with one routine job, such as issuing the written statement after a settlement or the update loop on a common repair, not a wholesale change of tools. Add the procedures and templates Lorework should follow. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.

Book a 30-minute demo

Questions

What can an AI coworker do for a property factor in Scotland?

It takes on repetitive admin such as issuing or chasing a written statement of services, updating homeowners on a common repair, and following the response times in your statement, in the way your firm already works. Your team teaches it those processes by chat. It does not replace the factor's legal duties under the 2011 Act or the Code of Conduct.

Can it register the firm, write the statement of services, or decide a common repair?

No. Lorework does not register a factor, draft the firm's written statement of services, decide whether works need consultation, or instruct contractors under delegated authority. Those stay with the firm. It takes on the admin around that work.

Can it send homeowner updates without approval?

You decide. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything.

Does it replace property managers or factoring staff?

No. It takes on the chase and the regular update so your people can spend their time with owners, and on the work that needs a person.

Is this only for firms in Scotland?

This page is written for property factors in Scotland, because the Act, the register and the Code are Scottish. Letting agents in Scotland have their own page, and the same coworker model is also set out for other service industries.

How does a firm start?

Start with one routine job, such as issuing the written statement after a settlement or the update loop on a common repair, not a change of systems. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.