Latest Housing articles

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  Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016: does the Act apply to your organisation?

  By Collette Miller 19 Apr 2018

  On 12 March 2018, the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. The Act was introduced with the intention of bringing greater openness and transparency around lobbying Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Any organisations who are likely to have any face-to-face contact with MSPs, Members of the Scottish Government, junior Scottish Ministers, special advisers or the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government should register with the Lobbying Register.

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  What to do when frustrating party litigants frustrate the court process

  By Keri Preece 16 Apr 2018

  It can be extremely frustrating for clients and their representatives when one side of a dispute acts in a way that deliberately makes the litigation process longer and more costly. This can be a problem in cases which involve a party litigant – someone who does not use legal representation but chooses to make their own representations to court.

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  GDPR: beyond tenants and employees, who do social landlords process personal data for … and what do they need to do about it?

  By Kelly Sleight 13 Feb 2018

  As pretty much everyone is aware, new data protection legislation comes into force in the form of the GDPR on 25 May 2018. For social landlords, it is clear that it's not just tenants and employees that they need to be aware of in terms of data protection and compliance with GDPR.

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  Using the new Model Private Residential Tenancy – how mandatory is it?

  By Derek Hogg 08 Jan 2018

  As most private landlords will know by now, a new form of tenancy for use in the Scottish private residential sector - the "private residential tenancy" or "PRT" came into effect on 1 December 2017. The Scottish Government has published a model PRT, but just how mandatory are the clauses it contains?

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  When is a Homeowner not a Homeowner?

  By Collette Miller 09 Nov 2017

  The first decision of the Upper Tribunal for Scotland, which hears appeals from the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has provided useful guidance on the definition of a "homeowner" under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. The decision of Shields and Blackley -v- Housing and Property Chamber, applies a wide definition of homeowner to include those who no longer own the property in question.