In line with the requirements of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, the Private Housing Services Team within the Scottish Government are in the process of contacting all registered factors (including RSLs) to remind them that they are required to confirm or update the list of properties which they manage by 30th June 2013.
What do I need to do?
The properties which must be listed are those managed by
Following three re-drafts by the Government, a consensus was finally reached on employee shareholder legislation. In April 2013, the House of Lords and the Government agreed on wording of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill which introduced a new employment status employee shareholder.
First proposed by the Chancellor George Osborne at the Conservative Party Conference last October, the original proposals saw a new employment status of employee shareholder that would see employees who were employed under this contract between £2,000 and £50,000 worth of shares, in
If you are considering challenging the procurement process are you aware that the courts will consider the public interest. The procurement regulations provide that,
where a legal challenge based on a breach of the procurement regulations has been raised following the completion of a tender process, the public body procuring the contract is prohibited from entering into the contract with the successful bidder until the legal proceedings are resolved, or the court grants an interim order lifting this prohibition.
In the case of Hastings
Should employers have a social media policy? The potential employment risks around social media was highlighted this month after the resignation of the first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner, Paris Brown, following racist tweets on her Twitter account. Although the tweets were sent before she applied for and accepted the job, they were there to be scrutinised by her future employers and the media.
It is taken for granted that everyone now has some sort of online presence be it for business, pleasure or both.
According to Scottish Government divorce statistics in 2012, a total of 13,679 family cases were initiated in the civil courts during 2011/12, a decrease of 6% on 2010/11. Divorce actions accounted for 78% of the total figure, with actions concerning parental rights and responsibilities accounting for 17%.
A total number of divorces granted during 2011/12 was 9,453, a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year.
What was the most common procedure?
Of those 9,453 divorces granted, 62% used the Simplified Procedure ("quickie divorce") and
I can't seem to get away from the bedroom tax. Having blogged about this topic for the last couple of months, I thought an update might be useful regarding rent arrears, tenant eviction and the bedroom tax.
The changes to housing benefit came into force on 1 April 2013. From that date Housing benefits claimants who are deemed to have a 'spare' bedroom will see their housing benefit payments reduced by either 14% or 5%.
Campaign groups have continued to mobilise their opposition to these
The Right to Buy (RTB) process is managed by various legal time limits. As a result, a straightforward transaction should take around seven months to complete from receipt of the application to handing over the title. So can Right to Buy applications be refused?
One of the most important time limits is the one month period within which a landlord must refuse or reject an application to buy under the RTB legislation.
Failure to act timeously may result in the landlord being forced to sell
One of the many differences between tenancy law in England and Scotland was highlighted online, namely the consequences of a landlord's failure to address the behaviour of antisocial tenants. In England, the landlord has no specific legal obligations to deal with antisocial tenants however Scotland is an entirely different story.
The Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act places a duty on a private landlord to take action to deal with antisocial tenants. Local authorities who receive complaints of antisocial behaviour in a tenanted property will normally
Legal separation in Scotland can be a difficult step to take but it is important to prepare yourself for what happens next. Here are 5 things you need to know.
1. How do we separate?
Couples usually separate when someone moves out of the matrimonial home. A solicitor can provide clarity on this by producing a separation agreement for spouses, civil partners or couples who have been cohabiting.
2. Who needs to know we have separated?
After separating you may have a responsibility to inform
We are often asked by employers to advise on disability discrimination.
Equality Act 2010 states 'a person has a disability if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activities'. Long term means the impairment has lasted, or is likely to last:
The guidance
Putting penalty clauses in tenancy agreements is fairly routine procedure within the private rented sector. However, whilst the practice may be widespread in Scotland, the issue of whether or not a penalty clause is legitimate can be a tricky matter.
Penalty clauses provide that where a tenant is in breach of their tenancy obligations, they will be liable to pay certain charges in addition to their rent. Charges typically imposed by landlords and letting agents range from interest on overdue rent or charging for the
The case of Christou(C) and Ward(W) v Haringey Council focused on internal disciplinary procedures and involved an appeal to the Court of Appeal by two social workers. They were found to be at fault in the handling of the Baby P case.
C was a team leader responsible for a number of social workers, including W. W had specific responsibility for Baby P who was on the child protection register. They had been disciplined under the Council's simplified internal disciplinary procedures and given a written
Tenant eviction and the bedroom tax (or the 'spare room subsidy' if you're a cabinet minister!) continue to dominate conversation in the housing world.
My blog last month put forward some ideas to minimise the impact of the changes to Housing Benefit which are now just two weeks away.
It also seems that the UK government are starting to get cold feet. Yesterday Iain Duncan Smith, the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, announced that guidance will be issued that will exempt foster
In February 2013, the Children and Families Bill was introduced in the House of Commons. It implements, among other things, the family-friendly proposals contained in the government's Consultation on Modern Workplaces. The Bill will introduce a shared parental leave scheme.
Under this system, an eligible mother will continue to receive 52 weeks' maternity leave as a day one employment right. Following the completion of the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave post birth, the mother can choose to end her leave early and share the
Housing bond finance is essentially a loan agreement used to provide financing for a borrower and income for a lender. Called a "security" because they have a fixed yield, bonds compel the borrower to pay interest on the amount of the loan. This is called the principal or par value.
The capital is normally paid in full by the borrower at maturity although some bonds do provide for repayment over the period of the loan agreement. Until maturity, the borrower makes interest payments to the
A Court of Session decision in the case of Patersons of Greenoakhill Limited v Biffa Waste Services Limited highlights the significance of getting contract clauses right first time. This case demonstrates that cost implications to businesses can potentially be significant when mistakes in drawing up clauses in commercial contracts are made.
Patersons operated a landfill site and also had a controlling shareholding in a waste collection business. Biffa sought to purchase the waste collection business.
Patersons proceeded with this transaction on the basis that Biffa
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has the power to apply the charity test as defined in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 to review the charitable status of charities listed on the register. Does your organisation pass the charity test?
The five functions of OSCR as specified in law are to:
To maintain charitable status, charities must continue
S172 of the Companies Act 2006 states that a company director must:
"act in the way he considers, in good faith, is most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole"
When it was introduced, this section of the Act created a great deal of concern, was it a step too far in terms of directors' statutory duties?
However, it seems that the controversy surrounding this section was ill-founded, as we have been living with it
As family lawyers we are regularly asked the question: Can I change the locks on my spouse? This is probably one of the most common questions I am asked when dealing with a client's separation or divorce.
The short answer is no. Regardless of whose name the property is in, each spouse has the right to occupy the property. These rights are known in Scots Law as 'occupancy rights'.
The only way to legally exclude your spouse from the family home is by
The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 has shaken up the previously unregulated, and unstructured, property factoring regime in Scotland and has introduced the Property Factor's written services statement. Although the provisions within the Act came into force on 1 October 2012, it seems many organisations and individuals are playing "catch up" with how the changes affect them, including the Property Factor's written services statement.
Written Statement of Services
In addition to the Act itself, property managers must also comply with the Code of Conduct.
