The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17^th March 2016. The stated aim of the legislation is to create simpler tenancies, offer stability and security for private tenants and ensure predictability over rent increases. It also fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship between landlords and tenants from contractual to statutory. We will get a new tenancy type called a 'Private Rented Tenancy' which will replace the current Assured and Short Assured regime. The Scottish Government has yet

We are often asked the question - how do I get divorced in Scotland?

In order to obtain a divorce you must raise an action in a Court which has jurisdiction. Jurisdiction normally means that you raise the action in the Court nearest to you. Before contemplating where to raise an action you must determine whether you can raise a divorce action or not. In order to raise a divorce action, you must have the legal ground to do so. In Scotland there is one

Part 4 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 makes provision for the registration, regulation and training requirements for letting agents in Scotland. The provisions include a mandatory register of letting agents with an associated 'fit and proper' person test, training requirements, a code of practice to which all letting agents must adhere and enforcement through the new First- Tier tribunal.

In February 2016, The Letting Agent Code of Practice (Scotland) Regulations 2016 were laid before the Scottish Parliament and are set to come into force

We are often asked by landlords about joint tenancies under an assured or short assured tenancy (if you have joint tenants under a Private Residential Tenancy, read this blog). Particularly where one joint tenant wishes to leave a rented property and gives proper written notice, but the other joint tenant wishes to stay.  What happens when a joint tenant leaves a property?

Technically, a vacating tenant who gives proper written notice in advance of a contractual end date or Ish, cannot create a situation where

The Scottish Government are anxious to ensure that all Scottish property is mapped on the Land Register as soon as possible. Mapping requirements are at the heart of the 2012 legislation. A cadastral map: a single unified map of all registered property in Scotland based on the ordinance survey map is being prepared. However, accurate plotting is not always straight forward. Old Title Deeds often have inadequate plans and for some the written description makes it difficult to plot the subjects described against physical

As you will have no doubt seen in newspaper headlines and Government advertising billboards, there is a 'new' rate of pay coming in - the National Living Wage. In this blog, we look at what this change is and what it will mean for businesses.

There are currently four different hourly rates of National Minimum Wage (NMW) for different categories of worker:

1. Standard rate for workers aged 21 or over: £6.70
2. Development rate: workers aged between 18 and 20 inclusive: £5.30
3. Young workers rate:

A New Year is a time for new ideas, and we are now looking for yours. As Scotland's only not-for-profit tenancy deposit scheme, we are in a unique position to give something back to the private rented sector and so we are delighted to announce the launch of the SafeDeposits Scotland Trust.

The Trust is a new grant-giving charity aimed at promoting education, training and best practice in Scotland's private rented sector, by funding projects which provide tangible benefits to landlords, letting agents and tenants

On 28 January the Scottish Government published the Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. This follows the announcement by Scotland's Finance Secretary in the Scottish budget in December 2015 that Scotland would follow the steps announced by the UK chancellor in charging additional Land & Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) (Scotland's equivalent of stamp duty) on second homes and buy to let properties.

Land & Building Transaction Tax rates

It is intended that the additional land & building transaction tax rates will apply

The Stage 1 report into the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) from the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee has been published along with their recommendations. Evidence has been taken from various stakeholders in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and the report and its recommendations were debated in the Scottish Parliament earlier this month. How will this affect student letting in Scotland?

The report can be downloaded here.

The Report makes some significant recommendations regarding Student Tenancies. The policy objective behind the Bill

Employers routinely have to be live to changes to employment laws and practices to ensure that they operate within the scope of employment legislation. However, alongside these types of changes, employers should be aware of cultural changes which might have an impact on their place of work. One such cultural change which is becoming an issue for some is the rise in the use of legal highs. Following the release of Acas guidance on this subject, we look at this issue in more detail and

There have been a flurry of new developments in public procurement law in Scotland and we have provided a brief summary of these below. Please watch this space for further detail and more commentary on the changes!

1. Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015

The 2015 regulations were published on 22 December and are due to come into force on 18 April 2016. They will replace the existing 2012 regulations and are intended to transpose the new EU directive on public procurement into Scots law. These

With the introduction of bespoke software providers advertising the ability to execute residential leases electronically (digital signatures), we are regularly being asked -  can such services be used in Scotland?

The Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 (RWA) does recognise electronic signatures as 'writing', and has done so since the commencement of the relevant parts of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012.

I would point out that, in terms of the RWA, there is no requirement for leases of less than 12mths to be

As we approach the end of 2015, it is a good time for employers to think about what HR issues they want to address and get prepared for the individual challenges that the oncoming festive period offers up. Here are our top things for an end of year checklist:

1. Do you need new staff? Now is a good time to think about your organisational needs and decide whether or not you will be looking to recruit new employees in the New Year. It is important

The Scottish Housing Minister maintained that proposed changes to private rented tenancies would not impact landlords tackling anti-social behaviour. Highlighting that anti-social behaviour was "unacceptable"; the Housing Minister stated that landlords would continue to be entitled to pursue eviction of tenants based on anti-social behaviour under the new Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill 2015 (the Bill).

Whilst still in the preliminary stages, the Bill is set to introduce a number of changes which will affect the management of tenancies; such as introducing a new tribunal

The Scottish Government has issued the first of its statutory guidance under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act), which addresses fair work practices in procurement. The guidance applies to all regulated procurements which commence on or after 1 November this year. A few provisions of the Act which are relevant to the guidance came into force on 28 September, including Section 2 which defines a 'regulated procurement' as any procedure carried out by a public body in relation to the award of a

The overlap of the laws of succession in different countries (e.g. in the country which you live and the country in which you own property) has caused a great deal of confusion and resulted in property owners putting two Wills in place - one in the country which they live in and the other in the country where they own property. Succession to property in Europe is now set to change

EU Regulation No 650/2012 (commonly known as "Brussels IV") was passed in 2012, but

Following on from our previous blog, the second instalment in our disciplinary series looks at the disciplinary hearing.

If, after a reasonable investigation, the employer takes the decision to proceed to a disciplinary hearing, the employee should be notified in writing of this. The notification should contain information about the time and venue of the formal meeting and advise the employee of their right to be accompanied. The letter is likely to state who will conduct the disciplinary hearing, and it should not be carried

The Summer Finance Bill sets out the changes to Inheritance Tax which were announced by the Chancellor in his Summer Budget. The Bill introduces an additional Main Residence Nil Rate Band (the Band) which will be introduced in stages from April 2017 until the full Band of £175,000 comes into force in April 2020. The Band will be in addition to the existing Nil Rate Band of £325,000.

When is the Band available?

The Band will apply when a qualifying residence (the qualifying residential interest)

It is likely that most managers will have to deal with a disciplinary matter at some point in their career. It is important that a fair procedure is followed otherwise they risk any subsequent dismissal being classed as unfair. In our two-part blog series we look at the factors to be considered by employers when dealing with a disciplinary matter. Here we look at how a disciplinary investigation should be conducted.

The first thing employers must do is familiarise themselves with the Acas Code of

The Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 will come into force in Scotland on 28 November 2015, a tenant's interest under a qualifying lease will automatically convert to outright ownership of the property and the landlord's title to the property will be extinguished. Essentially this will mean the end of long leases. It is estimated there are around 9000 long leases that will be eligible to convert.

Qualifying Leases

To qualify, a lease must be:

• Registered/recorded
• Originally have been granted for a term of more than