Buying and selling property in Scotland has traditionally been based on the premise that you should 'let the buyer beware' - caveat emptor - with the onus being on the purchaser to satisfy themselves on the condition of a property. This central tenet of residential property law has been dealt something of a blow recently, due to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Almost by stealth, the Consumer Protection Regulations have replaced the previous legislation (the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991) and now

Following on from my previous blog on the subject of flexible working requests, changes to request flexible working requests come into place on the 30 June 2014. When they took office, the Coalition Government made it part of their agenda to introduce flexible working for all employees. What are these changes and how might they affect you?

The change to flexible working affects more than working parents and carers alone. The right to flexible working will now apply to all employees with 26 weeks' continuous

The recent European Court Justice (ECJ) decision made a number of employers sit up and take notice due to the way in which the ECJ dealt with the calculation of holiday pay and commission. Are you getting it right?

Employers will know that the Working Time Regulations (WTR) state that all workers receive 5.6 weeks paid annual leave throughout the year. However, it does not specify how statutory holiday pay should be calculated. Theoretically, this is left to national legislation or practice. For each week

From April 2015, Scottish care in the community will lose full NHS funding. Patients with complicated long-term healthcare problems will no longer have access to full NHS funding if they are cared for in the community as opposed to in hospital.

Currently, the 'NHS Continuing Healthcare' scheme operates so that patients with chronic conditions being treated in a care home setting or in their own home are entitled to have their care funded by the NHS.

This operates in addition to free personal care which

Are actions of division and sale fair? If one or more persons have title to a property in Scotland all of them need to consent if there is to be a sale of that property. If the parties cannot agree on a sale or one or more of them simply 'disappears' then Scots law provides a remedy for a co-owner who wants to dispose of their interest. The remedy is an action of Division and Sale. In circumstances where the property cannot be divided, as

Could your Power of Attorney be invalid? We were recently consulted by two clients wishing to apply for Guardianship of Mrs W, who had lost capacity to act on her own behalf. The application was sent to The Office of the Public Guardian ("OPG"), who advised that they already held a Continuing Power of Attorney for Mrs W on their register, granted in favour of a Bank in 2008. Mrs W had never mentioned this and the Applicants were unaware of its existence. Although the

A Power of Attorney is often essential when a loved one loses mental capacity or is vulnerable is some way, as it is often the case that they are no longer able to make their own decisions.

This can be a distressing and stressful time for all concerned. However, if a person has a Power of Attorney (POA) already in place it can help ease these pressures.

A POA is a legal authority given by one person to one or more individuals allowing them to

The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 (?LBTT Act?) might not sound exciting, but as the first tax Act to be passed by a Scottish Parliament in over 300 years it is certainly noteworthy for those with an interest in Scottish residential or commercial property.

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (?LBTT?) is one of two areas of taxation over which the Scottish Parliament has derived legislative competence from the Scotland Act 2012, the other being Landfill Tax. It is intended that LBTT replace

April 2013 saw the introduction of changes to housing benefit which were dubbed the 'bedroom tax'. Over the course of the last 14 months our blogs have provided information on the introduction of these rules, the challenges to them and the cases which have been decided by tribunals. So is this Bedroom Tax, the final chapter?

During the last year, the Scottish government complained that they were being prevented from dealing with the impact of the bedroom tax by the rules which affected Discretionary Housing

Dismissing employees: What can we learn from the very public sacking of Manchester United manager David Moyes? This has made me think about the manner in which many employers dismiss their staff. Although it can often seem like the best for both parties if the employment relationship can come to an end swiftly, it is important that any dismissals of employees are done so in line with correct procedures.

Although such quick and public dismissals are sadly seen as the norm in footballing circles, employers

In recent years there have been a number of public procurement changes in Scotland, most notably the introduction of the Procurement (Reform) Scotland Bill in October 2013 and three new EU Directives in February 2014.?Public procurement in the UK and the rest of the EU is governed by European Directives and Regulations which are then implemented into national law.

The three new EU Procurement Directives, which deal with public contracts, utilities contracts and concessions, will formally come into force on 17 April 2014. Member states

Does your tenancy agreement enable tenants to keep pets? In a case that attracted considerable media coverage, we were successful in a court action on behalf of one of our housing association clients which sought to remove pets from one of their tenant's properties.

We were instructed to raise the action as our clients were made aware that a tenant was keeping dogs in their property without notifying them.

Our client's tenancy agreement clearly states that tenants must obtain the prior consent from the landlord

Although it may not seem like it, with the endless supply of grey skies, but the summer of sport is here! And this summer is shaping up to be an exciting one in terms of sporting events. The Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup, Wimbledon and the World Cup are taking place, to name but a few, with the former two events happening on home turf! But what could this mean for employers?

Whilst these events are exciting, it is important for employers to think of how

Some recent discussions has brought the matter of flexible working requests to the forefront of my mind, in particular how employers can get this wrong when a request is made.

The key points around flexible working requests are:

• Employees must have 26 weeks continuous employment at the date the application is made.
• Employers have statutory duty to consider applications.
• Once agreed it becomes a permanent change to the contract of employment.
• An employee has the right to appeal if necessary against the outcome.
• An agreement

Regulation of letting agents is sought by the Scottish Government through a new regulatory framework via the Housing (Scotland) Bill.

Currently there is no statutory regulation of letting agents in Scotland, which means that anyone can set up a letting agency, whether or not they have the appropriate experience or qualifications to do so.

The Bill seeks to introduce a formal register of letting agents, which aims to promote high standards of service and levels of professionalism, as well as giving landlords and tenants easy

The death of a loved one can be a very stressful and confusing time. At a moment when you are grieving you may also be faced with making important arrangements, such as what is an executor in a Will?

We know how hard it is to navigate your way through the process at such an upsetting time so here is a brief outline of the key issues you are likely to face.

Where do you start?

When someone dies there are immediate issues to deal

Organisations which operate primarily for the benefit of the community, such as Registered Social Landlords, have the opportunity to register under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, rather than under the Companies Acts. A number of changes aimed at modernising the law which applies to Industrial and Provident Societies are set to come into force in 2014.

From 6^th April 2014:

• The capital limit on withdrawable shares held by each member of an Industrial and Providential Society is set to increase from £20,000 to

The High Hedges (Scotland) Act comes into force on 1^st April 2014 for those who are fed up with their neighbour's overgrown privet blocking their sunlight:

Under the High Hedges Bill, individuals will be able to approach their local authority for assistance if they are unable to come to an amicable solution with their neighbour, in circumstances where they feel that a 'high hedge' on neighbouring land is adversely affecting the reasonable enjoyment of their property.

The definition of a 'high hedge' includes a

As well as longer days and warmer weather, Spring traditionally brings with it an upturn in the Scottish housing market. However we all know that since the economic downturn hit in 2008, the number of properties changing hands has declined rapidly and the market has been stagnant for many years.

Signs of life?
Although the economy is yet to return to its pre-Credit Crunch state, signs of change started to show in the latter half of 2013 as growth and stability began to return to

Are you ready for Acas' mandatory early conciliation service that launches on the 6^th April 2014 and will change the way in which individuals raise an Employment Tribunal claim?

Employees contemplating raising an Employment Tribunal claim, when issues cannot be resolved in the workplace, will be required to contact Acas first and engage in mandatory early conciliation (EC) with Acas and their employer.

Currently when a claim is made to the Employment Tribunal, the secretary of the Tribunal notifies Acas of the claim and