The Bill formed part of a programme of property law reform put forward by the Scottish Law Commission. This included the ending of feudal tenure in 2004 through the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc (Scotland) Act 2000.
 
The Bill:

- Converts ultra-long leases to ownership
- Protects landlords’ rights by providing for compensatory and additional payments.
- Moves away from an unnecessarily complex form of land tenure
 
Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson said:
 
"This Bill will simplify Scotland’s land tenure system. Ultra-long leases are so long that the tenant is, in effect, the owner in all but name. Clarifying the Continue reading →

The Council of Mortgage Lenders hopes the CQS will create a trusted conveyancing community that will deter fraud, recognise high-quality services for home-buyers and lenders, and deliver a robust assessment and monitoring procedure for the solicitors’ firms that are admitted.

The lender body supports a CQS that represents a credible means of driving up standards among conveyancers, and improving lender and consumer confidence.

Once the CQS achieves the Law Society’s goal of providing a "confidence boost" for the lender market, the CML expects the CQS to become a prerequisite for membership of lenders’ conveyancing panels.

Michael Coogan, director general of CML, said: "The CML Continue reading →

The CQS is a quality standard which will be awarded to a solicitors’ firms in recognition of their high standards of service and advice.

Launching the new scheme, Law Society President Linda Lee said high quality conveyancing practices have never had the opportunity to be recognised for the work that they do. 

"The CQS will give homebuyers an instantly recognisable ‘kitemark’ highlighting a firm’s professional excellence and their commitment to providing a high quality service.  

"The accreditation will allow consumers to identify quality conveyancing practices in a crowded and sometimes confusing market.

"The traditional values and legal skill of solicitors coupled with their professional integrity Continue reading →

This rises to 57% of those who were currently renting and half (51%) of adults living with parents.

Surprisingly, this also accounts for a quarter (23%) of homeowners who have actually been through the process.

A quarter of all respondents wrongly believed that a surveyor could carry out the process instead of a conveyancing solicitor and one in five (19%) believed it could be done by an estate agent.

Most of the confusion appears to lie between the concept of surveys and searches.

While 60% correctly answered that it was the conveyancing solicitor’s role to carry Continue reading →

A significant number of people in the UK live in otherwise empty buildings and many argue this an example of sustainable living and a solution to the problems of homelessness and vacant properties. A squatter is not committing a criminal offence by being in another person’s property without their permission. However they are subject to criminal charges if they commit offences such as damage or theft to or in that property. 

If an owner attempts to use force in order to remove the squatters, they could be accused of a criminal act under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Continue reading →

There are 20,000 planning appeals every year costing the planning system in the region of £30million. The service will help resolve issues, open up dialogue and reduce areas of disputes in a wide range of planning issues. It will also help smooth over disagreements surrounding section 106 agreements and compulsory purchase orders.

Director of the RICS dispute resolution service Martin Burns said: "This service will provide both parties in a dispute some relief from what is a costly procedure for the local authority and for the appellant. Currently, the planning system is clogged up with combative appeals which more often Continue reading →

This charge would often include insurance, lighting, cleaning and repairing of common parts, maybe gardening, the cost of estate staff as well as a possible contribution to a reserve fund and, of course, where the lease permits a management fee for the agent which might actually be a fraction of the total service charge and will usually include VAT.

Even with this clear in their minds, many lessees still question the management fee and how it is arrived at, often because individual lessees are not party to the contract that employs the managing agent.

To assist all lessees in Continue reading →

And anti-social behaviour becomes even worse if you live in a flat – so if you live in a leasehold block what can you do?

"Many lessees believe that managing agents, where one is employed, or the landlord have a big stick to wave at anti‐social behaviour in blocks of flats," said Brett Williams, chairman of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA).

"This is not so. Most leases will contain covenants which say leaseholders shall not cause, say, nuisance and annoyance to neighbours. There may be more specific restrictions such as no loud music between say 11pm and Continue reading →

According to the Daily Mail she has tried to have an Asbo served on her neighbour and has taken legal advice.

But the paper reports a council investigation found the noise levels at her home in Blythburgh, Suffolk were probably not high enough to warrant an Asbo.

"The wind-up time when it is taking off is between 12 and 15 minutes and it is very noisy," she said.

Click here to read full story in the Daily Mail.

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And parents will have to pay for the application for planning permission – along with the required drawings at a cost of hundreds of pounds.

The law came into force after guidelines were introduced for outbuildings, garden sheds and verandas.

Click here to read the full story in the Telegraph.

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