Dallas McMillan's Glasgow Lawyers' Blog

Two companies have appeared in court recently on health and safety charges after allowing their employees to be exposed to asbestos fibres. 

The latest House Price Index from Halifax has revealed that prices in the final quarter of 2017 (October – December) were 2.7% higher than in the same three months of the previous year. 

New research by Halifax has given an interesting insight into how knowledgeable the next generation of first time buyers are about the house buying process and how realistic they are about getting on the property ladder. 

A building contractor has pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches after failing to plan, manage and monitor work under its control, leading to gross exposure of its workers to Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS). 

New research by Halifax has revealed that the total value of privately owned UK housing stock has surpassed £6 trillion for the first time.  

Following Phillip Hammond’s recent announcement in the budget of a tax break for first-time buyers which could see savings of up to £5,000 for buyers in England it would appear that the Scottish system is being considered ahead of the new budget proposals to be announced in the coming weeks.

In just a few short weeks, the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 is set to come into force across Scotland, bringing with it the new “Private Residential Tenancy”. From the 1st of December, the new Private Residential Tenancy will be the only tenancy open for private landlords and tenants in Scotland. Following enforcement of the new Act, the common Short Assured Tenancy, despite its popularity within Scotland's residential letting sector, will no longer be available. It is worth noting that existing Short Assured Tenancies will continue and will not automatically be converted to the new regime.

Another important legal battle in the UK has been lost by Uber, after a London tribunal rejected its appeal against the verdict that it must treat all its drivers as ‘workers’. To do so would mean that all of Uber’s drivers in the UK would be entitled to minimum wage in addition to holiday pay, something which Uber, and the ‘gig economy’ as a whole is looking to avoid.

Tighter rules to better protect workers from the main cause of work-related deaths in the EU, occupational cancer, have been given final approval by the European Parliament.

New analysis by Barclays Mortgages has revealed that while the national housing market shows signs of cooling, individual postcodes around the UK are bucking the trend and experiencing sharper house price growth.

An investment of around £200 million is urgently needed to tackle high risk sections of ‘A’ roads across the UK and reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads.

Average house prices in the UK have been on a generally upward trend in recent months, but at a more local level prices can be influenced by many different factors.

A Glasgow based demolition contractor has appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court where it pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches following the death of a worker.

New research has looked at the average length of time between house moves for people in Britain.

Long-awaited plans to increase maximum sentences for drivers who cause death by speeding, racing or using a mobile phone have been announced by the Ministry of Justice.

Transport Scotland has published the final road casualty figures for 2016, which confirm that 191 people lost their lives in Scotland during that year, a rise of 14% compared to the previous year.

Average house prices in Scotland reached £146,354 in August this year, which is a rise of 3.9% over August 2016 but a fall of 0.7% compared to July 2017.

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 creates two new offences of corporate failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion (the offences).

Consumer confidence in the housing market doesn’t appear to have fully recovered since June’s General Election, according to new research from the Building Societies Association (BSA).