The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Act 2020 temporarily increased the minimum debt level which a debtor must owe a creditor before a creditor was able to commence a petition for sequestration (bankruptcy) from £3,000 to £10,000. This temporary increase in the debt threshold was due to come to an end on 31 March 2022 but was extended and is now due to end on 30 September 2022.
Just today, economists at Citi, the American bank, have forecast that the rate of UK inflation will peak at 18.6% in January 2023. This has serious ramifications for business and individuals alike. With wages simply unable to keep pace with the soaring rate of inflation, individuals will have less disposable income to spend on new purchases and to pay off existing debts. This is why companies should be alert to the looming crisis and ensure that they have robust cash flow management and debt recovery procedures in place, especially as we head into winter when the impact of the crisis will be worst.
Just in time for plastic free July, Scotland has become the first part of the UK to ban many single-use plastics. The legislation, The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021, came into force on 1 June 2022.
In October 2019 the housing division of the Upper Tribunal for Scotland in the case of Majid v Gaffney ruled that the eviction ground being relied upon by a landlord when serving a Notice to Leave had to apply at the time of service of the Notice to leave. The eviction ground relied upon in that case was Ground 12 – rent arrears which meant that as at the date of service of the Notice to Leave the tenant must have been in rent arrears for three or more consecutive months. It transpired the tenant was not in rent arrears for three or more consecutive months when the Notice to Leave was served on him. The court ruled that simply owing rent when the Notice to Leave was served did not mean that Ground 12 applied and thus rejected the landlord’s application for an eviction order.
