Although the Westminster election is being held this May, the election for the Scottish Parliament is still more than a year away.
There are a lot of changes already in the pipeline dealing with devolved matters which will, if introduced, have a very significant effect on all those living and working in the rural and urban sectors irrespective of the outcome of the Westminster election.
Registration of titles
Those changes include the new registration of title procedures introduced last month.
The aim is to have all land in Scotland registered within 10 years so that there will be publicly accessible plans in the Registers of Scotland in Edinburgh showing who owns every part of Scotland.
When finalised, that will be very helpful. But there will be additional cost for many of those owning property, and the 10-year target period seems very ambitious.
Since 1979 properties which have been bought or sold have had to be registered by reference to an accurate plan, but a huge amount of land remains unregistered.
There will come a time within the next 10 years when all owners will have to register their titles by reference to an accurate plan. This can be a complicated and time-consuming process, and therefore potentially expensive.
It may be worth having a word with your lawyer about starting this process sooner rather than later.
Leasing houses
Plans are also in the pipeline to make changes to the law affecting leases of houses.
Many landlords and tenants are familiar with Short Assured Tenancy leases. These have to be for at least six months but, at the end of the lease, the landlord knows they can get the house back if they want.
This is a flexible system which has generally worked well for many years, but there is a feeling that tenants do not have sufficient security of tenure. For example, families may find it difficult to book a place in a particular school if they don’t know if they will still be able to lease their house in six months’ time.
There are proposals to remove a landlord’s automatic right to end the tenancy when the original tenancy period expires and limit the other grounds for repossession so, for example, the landlord can only get the house back if they want to sell, or live in or refurbish the property, or change its use, or if there is three months’ rent due, or if another term of the tenancy has been breached.
These changes, if introduced, will affect all domestic tenancies.
Again, it is worth keeping an eye on them.
Land reform
There are significant land reforms proposed by the Government which are being consulted on until February 10.
The Government wants to address the barriers to sustainable development, diversify patterns of land ownership, and ensure that land is an asset which benefits the many not the few.
While many think this may only affect large landowners and estates, there is no reason to suppose it will not affect smaller owners and farmers as well.
It is well worth taking part in this process and logging on to the Scottish Government website.
Major changes are proposed to succession law and agricultural holdings legislation, and the new land and buildings transaction tax which replaces the existing stamp duty regime comes into force in April.
The Scottish Government has already announced changes to the rates of tax which were originally proposed to be payable.
These are just a few of the changes which are either happening already or are likely to be introduced in the next 12 to 15 months.
There is, perhaps, a natural tendency for politicians of all parties to turn to legislation to try to cure problems, but there are many instances where new laws do not achieve the intended result.
Well-considered and well-drafted legislation is much more likely to achieve the desired outcome which is to everyone’s benefit but perhaps the saying ‘less is more’ is one all of our legislators should bear in mind.
* Colin Clark is a partner with solicitors Pagan Osborne in Cupar.