20 Mar 2020
Coronavirus: Firm update | Friday March 20th
Aberdein Considine offers property, legal and financial services to individuals and businesses - and with 20 offices across Scotland and England, we engage with a large number of people in different ways.
We are following advice from the Scottish and UK governments, health authorities and experts very closely and adopting their latest guidance. At the same time, we are working tirelessly to minimise the impact on the services we offer and to ensure continuity of service.
We have launched a dedicated Coronavirus Response website to keep our clients up-to-date with the latest developments and the impact these have on the work we do. Click here to view it.
We are also sending out email updates as soon as anything changes. You can sign-up for these at the foot of each page on the response website.
In the past 24-hours, we've had an update from the Scottish Government on help for tenants facing financial hardship. We have also some additional information for elderly and vulnerable clients around the unique challenges they face.
Here's the latest:
Tenant update
You may have read in the news this week that the UK Government will bring forward emergency legislation to protect private renters from eviction. This means people in England and Wales will not be evicted from their homes for at least three months under emergency coronavirus legislation.
This is already the case in Scotland, and the Scottish Government is going further by extending this period from three to six months. Further details are expected to be announced soon.
Scotland’s Housing Minister has also written to landlords urging them to ensure that no tenant loses their home due to financial hardship brought on by Coronavirus.
Landlord update
In partnership with Citylets, Scotland's largest lettings portal, we have launched an online valuation tool for landlords, which calculates potential rental value based on up-to-the-minute market data.
In the current circumstances, this will allow us to reduce unnecessary contact. You can try it by clicking here.
As mentioned above, The Scottish Government has announced that it intends to amend the mandatory grounds for eviction under the Private Residential Tenancy from three months to six months.
However, the UK Government has now confirmed that mortgage payment holidays can be triggered by landlords who have a tenant in arrears.
Elderly and vulnerable clients
We have increased capacity within our private client teams following a signifianct rise in requests around wills, powers of attorney and other legal matters relating to elderly relatives.
Older people and those considered immunocompromised are being asked to follow more stringent isolation guidelines than the wider public. As a result, many are looking to put financial and welfare powers of attorney in place. This is a legal mechanism that allows people to appoint loved ones or trusted friends to look after their affairs should they fall unwell or face extended periods in isolation.
Such isolation is creating obsticles in terms of taking legal instructions, but we are using video calling technology to conduct meetings and to continue to provide our clients with a service from their own home. We are liaising with the Law Society of Scotland throughout these exceptional circumstances.