Our earlier blog on Wills spoke of the need for getting professional advice and not relying on a DIY Will. There is a document, however, which we would actively encourage you to DIY and that is a Letter of Wishes. A Letter of Wishes is often stored alongside Wills, and can act as a guide to your executors and trustees as to how the instructions in your Will should be implemented.

They are unlikely to include legal jargon, and will convey the feelings of

We were approached by a housing association client who wanted to help a vulnerable adult to remain living in his deceased parent's home. Otherwise there would be no option but for the adult to go into care, leaving the home he was comfortable in.

The housing association agreed to purchase a share, just under 50%, of the property in question and entered into an Occupancy Agreement with both the Trustees under the late mother's Will Trust and also with the representatives of the son. This

Registers of Scotland (RoS) recently released their Annual Market Review 2016 detailing activity in the Scottish residential property market for that year. So what's the latest news for the Scottish Property Market?

The key points highlighted in this report are: 

• The volume of sales increased by 3.3% on 2015
• The average price of a residential property fell by 1.9% compared with 2015
• The value of the residential market in Scotland was in excess of £16.5 billion, an increase of 1.3% on the previous year

Taking

"The name is Bond..."

Employers under construction contracts often try to protect themselves against the risk of loss from a variety of events by asking the contractor for a performance bond.

A performance bond is a form of security provided by a third party, usually a bank or insurance company, guaranteeing the obligations of the contractor under the contract. A bond constitutes a promise that the guarantor (i.e. the bank/insurance company) will make a payment to the employer of a set amount (usually 10% of

Our blog headed 'Letting Agent Registration' (Less than) A Year To Go!' discussed the forthcoming requirements for letting agent registration following the enactment of the Letting Agent Registration (Scotland) Regulations 2016.

Anticipated Scottish Government guidance on letting agent registration has since been published and can be found here.

The guidance provides information on:

• who needs to register
• what you need to do before you register
• what training and qualifications you must have in place before you make your application
• guidance on protecting client money

Top Tips for selling your property in Edinburgh

1. This is a good time to sell as there is a lack of stock on the market at present and there is a strong demand for many types of properties.
2. From a selling point of view it is not worth holding off until Easter or better weather. In recent, previous years, partly due to lack of other stock and partly due to the year round nature of the market, many properties marketed in January and February have

IMMIGRATION CHECKS DO NOT YET APPLY TO LANDLORDS IN SCOTLAND! We previously blogged about the UK Immigration bill which proposed duties on landlords to carry out immigration checks on prospective tenants - essentially checking if someone has the right to rent.

The bill became law on 1^st December 2014 in connection with premises located in specific local authorities in England. On 1^st February 2016, the scheme was rolled out to the whole of England.

The UK Government now intends to roll out this

Regular readers of our blog will be aware that the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 made provisions for the mandatory letting agent registration, regulation and training requirements in Scotland.

The Letting Agent Registration (Scotland) Regulations 2016 were laid before the Scottish Parliament in December 2016 and will come into force on 31^st January 2018.

The Regulations require the most senior person in a letting agency business (unless they have no input into the letting agency's day-to-day running) and all persons directly concerned with managing and

Our firm was delighted to take part in a Dementia Friends information session which involved staff completing a number of activities with a view to understanding how to interact better with people living with dementia (for example always use the term 'living' with dementia, never 'suffering'). We are often asked about legal help for living with dementia.

Our team regularly find themselves helping people who are experiencing the heartbreaking effects of dementia and this was a great opportunity to learn more about the condition and

Buying your first home is an exciting prospect. In the past few years fewer people have been able to realise their dream of getting on the property ladder due to lack of sufficient mortgage availability, job uncertainty and the rise in property prices in many areas, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. However the market is now picking up again - what advice for first time buyers should you be looking for?

If you are thinking of purchasing a property one of the first things you

It's inevitable that we will attempt some form of DIY in our lives. In many circumstances there will be that temptation to 'give it a go' whilst thoughts of "what's the worst that can happen?" run through our head but this can often end in disaster. A wobbly shelf or badly painted wall is one thing; but not leaving your hard earned money and possessions to who you want to is another. While on the topic of DIY, we are often asked - can I

It is estimated that one in four property transactions will involve a contribution (loans and gifts) from the Bank of Mum and Dad. There are various ways in which that help can be given, for example:

• Gift or loan of some or all of the deposit
• Gift or loan of full purchase price
• Act as guarantor
• Loans and gifts of some or all of the deposit

If you are considering making a gift you should first seek advice on the tax implications of doing so.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires all public bodies (including RSLs) to publish a procurement strategy, where their expenditure on regulated procurements for the next financial year will be at least 5m. All eligible public bodies were required to publish their first strategy by 31 December 2016. Public bodies must also notify the Scottish Government of the publication of their strategies.

The Act provides for the matters which must be covered by a procurement strategy, which include:

• Setting out how the public body will

Under the Data Protection Act, employees can ask to see any personal data about them that their employers hold. These are called Subject Access Requests (SAR), and can create potential legal problems for employers. What are the risks around SARs? And how employers should handle them?

The Risks

A SAR will likely be time-consuming and costly to an employer. They may need to look through a lot of data in order to find all of the information required.

SAR?s can also be risky for employers

2016 has been a mixed year for property purchasers and sellers in Edinburgh and the Lothians. What are the current Edinburgh property market conditions? Some sellers have done very well in terms of attracting interest in their properties and achieving prices over their asking prices and home report values; but not everyone has benefited from what, generally speaking, was a positive year on the property market. The main problem for buyers and sellers is a lack of real choice on the market. Most people have

On 22 April 2016, further legislation augmenting and transforming rights and responsibilities governing land ownership in Scotland entered into force. Furthering the Scottish Government's aim of bringing an intended million acres of land into community ownership, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 makes further provisions designed to engage communities in decision making and facilitate community ownership. How can Scottish Land Fund help community ownership?

The Scottish Government have announced that the Scottish Land Fund will continue until 2020 and have trebled support to £10 million

Landlords should be aware that the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced the requirement in Scotland for landlords to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) carried out on all electrical installations, fixtures and fittings within their rental properties. The requirement has been in place since 1^st December 2015 for any new tenancies entered into but from 1^st December 2016, all tenancies must have a valid EICR, a copy of which must be provided to the tenant.

The EICR lasts for 5 years and

In Scotland, prescription is the law that regulates the period in which parties can pursue claims. If I was raising a court action - how long have I got?

Most claims in law prescribe after five years, which means that a party wishing to make a claim after that five year period may be prohibited from successfully raising that claim.

There are certain other categories of claim to which specific periods apply, such as product liability, defamation and harassment.

The purpose of allowing this period

Following the recent signing of the CETA free trade deal between the EU and Canada, many are asking what the UK has in store in relation to trade and, specifically, public procurement rules, upon withdrawal from the EU.

The public procurement rules which apply in Scotland come from the EU Procurement Directive therefore, once the UK has left the EU, does this mean the end for public procurement law in this country?

The possible scenarios for the UK?s exit from the EU include:

• The Norway

There were three significant changes to Judicial Review procedures brought in to effect by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The 2014 Act made provision for wide-ranging reforms to the Scottish civil courts system in Scotland, as well as important reforms to the court procedure associated with judicial review in relation to time bar, permission to raise Judicial Review proceedings and the requirement to "front load" applications for Judicial Review.

Time bar

It is now a requirement that applications for judicial review are made