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.

When it comes to debt recovery, a pursuer must obtain a payment decree from the Sheriff Court against a defender (debtor), and then take steps to enforce the decree in order to recover sums due.

One of a number of different procedures a pursuer can utilise,with a view to recovering an outstanding sum, is an inhibition.

• Once registered this prohibits a defender from selling, transferring or otherwise disposing of any land and other immoveable assets i.e. houses and commercial premises, until the debt is settled

Our previous blog looked at the forthcoming bedroom tax impact on housing associations and offered some suggestions on minimising its impact.

Glasgow Advice Agency, an organisation which provides welfare rights and advice services across the South and North East of Glasgow, have recently obtained and published an opinion from Jonathan Mitchell, Q.C. 

In this blog, I will look at arguments that rooms of certain sizes should be left out of account.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 contains provisions which relate to overcrowding.

The 'space standard'

There cannot be a single housing association which is not aware of forthcoming changes to housing benefit and the impact of the bedroom tax. These changes will see reductions in housing benefit to tenants who are deemed to be over-occupying. New rules will set out:

- The number of bedrooms which will be eligible for benefit

- If a tenant has one spare bedroom, then 14% of their benefit will be removed

- If they have two or more spare bedrooms, then their benefit will

In a previous blog about landlords' duties during the winter months, we highlighted the possible duty for landlords under the Occupiers Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 to ensure that they are gritting common areas.

Continuing the gritting common areas theme, a very interesting judgement has now been released in a sheriff court case. The case is Bonham v Pentland Housing Association.

-? Ms Bonham was a tenant of Pentland HA

-? In December 2009, she fell on the pavement area outside her home, breaking her

Golden brick is a familiar term to housing associations in relation to development sites and taxation but how will they follow the golden brick road? So, where Dorothy discovered the Wizard was simply an ordinary man, what will housing associations' discover if they pull back the curtain for golden brick?

What is Golden Brick?

Housing Associations (HAs) are not generally able to recover VAT on rented properties and have limited recovery prospects for shared ownership schemes. As a result they will always seek to

The case of Glasgow Rent Deposit & Support Scheme against Glasgow City Council and Ypeople (decided on 6 December 2012) highlights the court's reluctance to delay a contract award because of an alleged breach of the procurement regulations where this would be detrimental to the public interest.

GCC tendered for a service providing increased access to housing for the homeless and specifically the provision of a deposit guarantee scheme and temporary furnished accommodation. The pursuer raised the action and asked that the decision to award

Last year I blogged about the possibility of another Scottish Housing Bill during 2012 and more legal changes. That did not come to pass but plans are afoot for a Bill in 2013. Discussions are proceeding about the contents of the Bill.

I would imagine that one proposal which would meet almost universal support would be a ground for compulsory eviction where tenants are guilty of serious antisocial behaviour.

The UK Home Office published a draft Antisocial Behaviour Bill which will apply only to England

The UK Government's Welfare Reform Bill will introduce a bedroom tax which will reduce the amount of housing benefit support that can be given to tenants in the social rented sector by introducing new criteria for working-age housing benefit claimants who have extra bedrooms.

People who are judged to be "under occupying" their home by one bedroom will have their housing benefit cut by 14 per cent. Where tenants are under occupying by two or more bedrooms the deductions will be 25 per cent.

The

How much do you know about the payment of adjudicator fees? The Court of Appeal in England has ruled that adjudicators are not entitled to payment of their fees where their decisions are unenforceable. Adjudication is a common alternative to court action in construction disputes and is referred to as the first 'port-of-call' for resolution of any dispute in the majority of construction contracts.

PC Harrington Contractors Ltd and Systech International Ltd:

The First Ruling

In the first instance, the court ruled that the role

Organisations selling under the Shared Equity Scheme have the option to retain a "Golden Share" but what exactly is a golden share?

When a purchaser is buying a property though a shared equity scheme he only has to pay a percentage of the value of the property in cash - the remaining percentage being paid by way of a Standard Security in favour of the scheme funder (for Registered Social Landlords this is likely to be The Scottish Ministers). A Standard Security is a loan

The Scottish Government's 'get ready for winter' campaign has now started. What are a landlord's legal responsibilities to tenants in winter?

While the current weather is causing significant flooding problems, no doubt we will soon see the return of freezing weather which leads to many housing associations and landlords facing calls from tenants about frozen pipes. Many will also be concerned about what they have to do to keep footpaths clear of snow and ice. So what are the legal obligations of a landlord in

A decision by the Court of Session serves as a timely reminder for landlords regarding their duty in respect of inspecting and maintaining common areas. Common parts are generally understood as shared areas common to all tenants such as staircases and paths, but which remain under the landlord's control and their responsibility.

In the case of Kathleen Kirkham v Link Group Ltd a tenant attempted to sue her landlord, Link Group Ltd for £92,400 after she sustained an injury by tripping on a garden footpath.

Using Procurement to deliver Living Wage - public bodies are increasingly under pressure to get the most out of their procurement processes, including addressing social and economic challenges.

The Scottish Living Wage Campaign aims to ensure that all employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors pay their workers no less than the Scottish Living Wage.

• The living wage is higher than the national minimum wage,
• It is set at a level that the Campaign considers to be the minimum income that households need to

Problems with your neighbour's leylandii? Are their trees blocking out the morning sun and they won't do anything about it? Well, the Scottish Parliament looks set to provide you with a helping hand following the introduction of the High Hedges (Scotland) Bill as a private member's Bill in October 2012.

The proposed legislation would give someone recourse to their local authority if they are unable to come to an amicable solution with their neighbour in circumstances where they feel that a "high hedge" on neighbouring

The Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 introduced Scotland to a map-based Register as a means of recording land ownership in Scotland. The map-based system is backed by a state guarantee and provides information and identification of registered subjects with certainty. Legislation identifies what information must be supplied at the time of registration and Registers of Scotland have published guidance on deed plan criteria. It is now the case that any newly prepared plan that does not adhere to the guidelines is not likely to be

If you are a public body subject to the regime set down in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012, now is your chance to have your say on how the public procurement regulations operate, and the Scottish Government's proposals for change relating to procurement law.

The Scottish Government is currently running a consultation into The Procurement Reform Bill, the aim of which is to establish a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement that supports Scotland's economic growth

The Court of Session has probably just issued its most significant legal judgment in the field of housing law Scotland in the last twenty years.

In the case of South Lanarkshire Council v McKenna, the court had been asked to consider whether the entire regime of short Scottish secure tenancies set out under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 was compliant with the Human Rights legislation. They were asked to consider whether the rules on evictions on short Scottish secure tenancies were lawful and whether

Is asbestos a continuing concern for organisations or a thing of the past? Well, the answer is: a bit of both really.

Although asbestos has been banned throughout the UK since the 1980s and all related materials ceased to be used prior to the end of the last century - regulations governing asbestos within commercial premises have recently been introduced.

It cannot be argued that these regulations and those within the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 are not of continuing relevance to commercial

How easy is it to obtain an eviction after bankruptcy or signing a trust deed in Scotland? Over the last few years, we have received a significant number of queries from Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and private landlords regarding eviction in Scotland when a tenant is sequestrated (declares bankruptcy) or signs a trust deed.

When a person enters into bankruptcy or a trust deed, it becomes impossible to raise court proceedings against them to enforce payment of any debt owed which pre-dates the insolvency. In