News & Legal Updates

Many people choose to convert their loft area as a means of obtaining more space without having to move home. This blog provides some advice on what you should be thinking about before making the decision to extend and how to ensure that the loft conversion is safe and legal. Check whether or not you … Continue reading "Loft Conversions"

One of the sectors most affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic is food and drink with premises ordered to close following government announcements made on 20th and 23rd March. Where is closed? From close of trade on 23rd March the following food and drink premises must be closed: • Restaurants; • Cafes; • Public Houses; … Continue reading "Licensed Premises and Covid-19"

The UK and Scottish Governments have introduced measures to assist businesses in Scotland to cope with the impact of COVID-19 and, in particular, they have provided for a number of rates reliefs and grants. There are also many other challenges facing business including those that affect landlords and tenants of commercial leases. Non-domestic rates The … Continue reading "Coronavirus: Commercial Property implications and advice – Part I"

You may have seen press reports recently about a dispute between the owners of two properties in Inverness.  The local authority used statutory powers to require one party to significantly reduce the height of a number of Leylandii trees which were a barrier to light and adversely affected the enjoyment of a neighbouring property.  The … Continue reading "High hedges – Property in Scotland"

It is always good to report positive changes to the market. With this in mind, I have seen a significant increase in sales in the DD8 postcode area since the turn of the year. A selection of our properties at various levels of the market in the Forfar and Kirriemuir areas have been placed under … Continue reading "DD8 Market Heating Up"

As you will be aware, the Scottish Budget for 2020/2021 was published on 6 February 2020. This made changes to a number of financial regimes, including that of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (‘LBTT’) regime. The principal change is the formation of a new tax band of 2% payable on non-residential leases which have … Continue reading "Scottish Budget – Land and Buildings Transaction Tax change"

Private Residential Tenancy Since 1st December 2017, new Scottish tenancies for separate dwellings require to be a Private Residential Tenancy (“PRT”), subject to certain exclusions. Any disputes arising out of PRT’s are resolved by the First Tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) (“the FTT”). Any appeal can be made to the Upper Tier … Continue reading "Private Residential Tenancy – Landlord Dispute"

The impact we have on the environment around us has been at the forefront of most people’s minds and heavily covered in the media over the last twelve months. The Scottish Government has also announced ambitious targets for Scotland to be carbon neutral by 2045. It seems that home owners will now be expected to … Continue reading "Energy Efficiency Proposals and their potential cost to Home Owners in Scotland"

Since 01 December 2017, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) (“FTT”) has dealt with actions for eviction in respect of private residential leases instead of the Sheriff Court. The FTT has recently published their decision in the first successful action for unlawful eviction. When is eviction unlawful? When evicting a tenant, landlords … Continue reading "Unlawful Eviction"

An owners perspective, West Wing, North Newseat Of Ardo, Ellon, AB41 7HQ This blog was written by the current owners of West Wing (as of 23.10.2019).  “I think one of the things I love about the house is its humble beginnings, it originally started life as the neighbours cow shed and was developed into a … Continue reading "Traditional steading which has been converted to an exceptionally high standard"