Blog | Mitchells Roberton

Airbnb Boom
Founded in August 2008 and based in San Francisco, Airbnb is a “trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover and book unique accommodation around the world”-online or from a mobile or tablet. Whether a room for a night, a house for a week or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique ...
Acceptance in Lieu
An 18th century portrait of the 5th Earl of Carlisle by Joshua Reynolds has been accepted by the nation in lieu of £4.7m inheritance tax. The Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme is administered by Arts Council England and enables taxpayers to pay Inheritance Tax by transferring important works of art and heritage objects into public ownership. ...
Private Landlords Should Ready Themselves For New Legislation
Major new legislation is on the horizon which will make significant changes to renting and letting residential property in Scotland. The time of arrival is as yet unknown but it is expected to be late 2017 or early 2018. At the moment landlords let property under ‘assured tenancies’ or ‘short assured tenancies’. Under the new legislation ...
LET IT
LET IT – be known that letting agents can be sanctioned for failing to comply with Tenancy Deposit Scheme rules. For the first time, a letting agent, rather than a landlord, has been penalised since the introduction of regulations imposing an obligation on a landlord to secure deposits even if that landlord has appointed a letting ...
Mitchells Roberton Great Solicitors Bake Off
On Thursday 29 September 2016 our firm held a bake off competition to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. There were 6 entrants Alison, Angela, Jan, Paul, Sarah and Willie. Each produced wonderful cakes. The judges were our very own Paul Hollywood (aka Donald Reid) and Mary Berry (aka) Morag Inglis. After much tasting and deliberation the judges ...
Right To Buy Has Ended
On the 1 August 2016 the Right to Buy, which allows tenants in social housing to buy their homes came to an end in Scotland. Tenants with a right to buy had until the 31 July 2016 to submit an application. The Right to Buy in Scotland was established by the Tenants’ Rights Etc. (Scotland) Act ...
‘Traditional Methods’ are often the Best for Homebuyers
Today there are many apps and websites in existence to help homebuyers find their dream home but many people still find that the more ‘traditional’ methods are the best. Which? questioned 2000 purchasers about how they found their property . 55% said they found it through a ‘traditional’ method like an estate agent, their local paper ...
Family Law –Some Urban Myths
I have been practising family law for quite some time now and over the years it never fails to surprise me that many people still hold strongly to a number of misconceptions about family law in Scotland. The woman will automatically get custody of the children- NO In Scotland, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 replaced the words ...
New Regulations Introduced Making Commercial Property Owners Improve Energy Efficiency of their Buildings
The Assessment of Energy Performance of Non-domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016 came into effect on 1 September 2016 making it the responsibility of owners of commercial property to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings on either a sale or the grant of a lease to a new tenant. The owner of a property which is ...
Over 50s plan an average of £51,000 pension giveaway
Saga Investment Services between 24th and 25th June 2016, with the help of Populus, a member of the British Polling Council, carried out a survey of over 50s who hold a private ‘defined contribution’ pension and are currently using flexible drawdown with their savings. The findings were based on a sample of 1915 people of ...