So how can tenants ensure repairs happen? The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 stipulates that a private landlord must ensure that each tenanted property meets a basic standard of repair; if the property doesn't then tenants can make a referral to the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP).

In order to meet the repairing standard:

• The property must be wind and watertight and fit for human habitation,
• The structure and exterior of the property must be in proper working order,
• The installations for the supply of water,

A new rule came into effect on 1 August 2012 for the divorce process. In divorce cases with a financial element, whether it is a claim for a capital sum or sale of the matrimonial property, both parties must complete a Form 13A.

This form must be completed by the party raising the action before the action is raised in Court. The form asks for details of matrimonial property and debts as at the relevant date.

What is matrimonial property and debts?

• Matrimonial property is

I have spoken at numerous seminars and training events for housing associations dealing with the recent changes to eviction notices of proceedings relating to actions involving rent arrears.

The new changes were implemented on 1 August and make significant differences to court actions involving rent arrears.

Firstly, new rules require sheriffs to set a time limit on the period during which an eviction decree can be enforced. The maximum period allowable is 6 months. This change applies to all actions where rent arrears are the

Employment Tribunal statistics

The Employment Tribunals have published their annual statistics for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. Interestingly the total number of claims continues to decrease (from 236,000 in 2009/2010 to 218,000 in 2010/2011 and decreasing again to 186,000 in 2011/212).

Unfair dismissal claims have fallen from 47,900 to 46,300. If anyone is interested in reading the report it can be obtained from the Ministry of Justice website.

Employment Tribunal fees

The Ministry of Justice has recently published the results of

What are Procurement Contract Award Notice Requirements? Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and other public bodies must go through a legally compliant procurement process prior to awarding a contract for works, supplies or services. This process is set down in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012. It is easy for public bodies to get caught up ensuring that the selection process is compliant and forget that, once this process is complete and the successful party has been identified, the method of informing interested parties of the

Around 70% of us die intestate in Scotland, i.e. without a valid Will. Yet the consequences of doing so can be expensive, and can mean that loved ones do not inherit as the deceased might have intended. We are often asked what to do when there is no will.

Unless there is a valid Will in place clearly signed and dated, expressing the deceased's wishes, then the estate would be wound up as intestate and certain rules then apply.

How do you check if there

Mid market rent (MMR) is aimed at providing people on modest incomes with an opportunity to access rented accommodation - does mid market rent for housing associations work? Due to the Scottish Governments consultation outlined further on, more and more housing associations are considering mid market rent tenure in addition to the current options they provide to social tenants on lower incomes.

Grants to support the provision of mid market rent units are currently only available to non-charitable subsidiaries of housing associations as legislation:-

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The European Commission published draft proposals in January 2012 which aim to update data protection regulations and unify data protection within the EU.

Summary of Proposals

• Stricter requirements on organisations to adopt policies and procedures that clearly demonstrate how processing of personal data is carried out. Organisations will only be able to collect the minimum amount of data required for the task in hand, and can't retain data for longer than is necessary.
• Public authorities or commercial organisations which employ more than 250 people will

As a student, it's a relief to have some kind of formal work placement organised for the summer holidays. Something more interesting than stacking shelves, a chance to apply some knowledge you have learned from University, as well as being good for the CV. But what about the content of my placement at TC Young? Would this be days filled with making coffees and photocopying?

Thankfully not. Over my short time here I have been able to work in different departments doing a variety of

In July 2012 the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that a (Scottish) Will forged by a deceased's mother should be set aside. Mrs Nicol's son died unexpectedly, he was separated from his wife with a young daughter. Mrs Nicol was concerned his estranged wife would inherit in preference to his daughter. Four years of court action and family acrimony then followed. Which could easily have been avoided if the deceased had a valid Will in place. How do you go aboutmaking a Will in

Owners of Scottish properties should be aware that there are new requirements for Energy Performance Certificates which will be introduced in October 2012 and January 2013. Please find below a summary of the relevant changes:

From 1^st October 2012

- In addition to showing an Energy Performance Certificate to a prospective purchaser or tenant, a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate must also be given to the purchaser or incoming tenant of a property.

- All Energy Performance Certificates must contain a note of

Using the Small Claims Court in Scotland - this can be utilised by landlords looking to recover a debt owed by a tenant. Usually these debts relate to rent arrears or costs arising from repairs. If tenant fails to pay a debt owed to the landlord, and has also failed to respond to correspondence, then the landlord must decide:

- whether the debt is worth pursuing further

- which method to use in order to recover the debt in the most cost/time effective manner

A

There are many challenges facing vulnerable adults entering into tenancy agreements in Scotland.

The Adults with Incapacity Act is now well established in Scotland. It sets rules which deal with the appointment of guardians for people who lack capacity to deal with their own affairs. Many adults who are 'incapable' as defined in the Act are now in their own tenancies with significant support networks. Earlier this year I spoke at an event on this topic.

This event looked at the challenges faced by adults

If you open a newspaper or turn on your television, you are once again bombarded with headlines on yet another banking related scandal - this time LIBOR rate fixing. With the resignation of Barclay's chief executive and more revelations in relation to rate fixing practices by the major banks you may be wondering what it's all about, and how it affects you.

• What is LIBOR?

The current issues surround the LIBOR interest rate. This is the average rate at which the major banks confirm that

Cohabitation law including cohabitation rights, came into force in 2006 through the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 (the Act). The Act contains provisions for dealing with financial issues when an unmarried couple separate. Cohabitation is a less formal relationship than marriage and the legal rights available to each person when they separate are not nearly as extensive as if they divorced.

There are a number of common myths amongst cohabiting couples:

• We are common law husband and wife
• Cohabitation rights are the same as married

All three of the tenancy deposit schemes in Scotland approved by the Scottish Government are now operational! The many different aspects of the tenancy deposit scheme in Scotland have been covered on our blog before however with the official operational date of 2 July 2012 having passed, it would be a good time to remind landlords of the timescales involved to ensure they are complying with their duties. Rest assured, there is no need to panic just yet!

Landlords in Scotland will need to lodge

Children's Services are provided by the Social Work Department in each Local Authority (Council) - you may want to know why children's services are involved with your child. Children's Services deal with concerns about a child's welfare and provide assistance and protection for children in need.

A child in need is one:

• who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or;
• whose health or development is likely to be impaired significantly unless such services are provided; or
• who is disabled; or

If a landlord finds himself in a situation where a tenant has requested terminating a tenancy agreement early, the tenancy agreement should have clear terms under which the tenant can give notice to terminate the agreement. In most circumstances the tenant will have to give two months notice prior to the end date of the tenancy. If the tenant tries to get out of the agreement early without giving notice in terms of the tenancy agreement, the landlord may have a claim for any losses

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 will come into force on 1 October this year and alongside this the Homeowners Housing Panel.

The Act will introduce new rules and regulations for property factors in Scotland. Property factors will require to be registered and to comply with a Code of Conduct. It will also introduce a new dispute resolution procedure for complaints arising from factoring problems or allegations of failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.

With effect from 1 October, the Homeowners Housing Panel

As a divorced parent do you know if you need consent before you can take your child abroad for a holiday? When looking forward to a summer holiday, it is a question that often arises for separated or divorced parents. Do you need both parents to consent?

This can be a fraught issue and unfortunately the law does not help. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 states that when both parents of a child have parental responsibilities and rights, the consent of both is required prior