If you wish to make a Will  we can, if you desire, explain why children or close family members have been excluded in that Will.  For more information on Making a Will, contact Nia Wharry on Tel: 01256 320 555.

Recently, the Government has discovered a scheme that exploits the relief available for donations of listed shares and other types of qualifying investments (including land) to charities in section 431 of the Income Tax Act 2007 and section 587B of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988.

The Government is proposing to introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2010 which will reduce the tax relief on such arrangements where the acquisition was made as part of a tax advantage scheme. The legislation will not affect genuine donations to charity where tax avoidance arrangements are not involved.

If you have any questions on Tax issues, please contact Nia Wharry on Tel: 01256 320 555.

 A further point to consider in relation to Will Writers is that they do not have to have insurance to cover the evenuality that loss is caused to beneficiaries due to negligence in the preparation of a Will. The lack of necessity for insurance is particularly worrying when research conducted by The Law Society showed that vulnerable people are being left without adequate provision as a result of ‘nightmare’ Wills prepared by unregulated Will Writers.

Lord Hunt of Wirral expressed concerns about the unregulated ‘fringe legal market’ in Will Writing in his review of legal services last October. He called for Will Writing to become a regulated activity.

If you have concerns about a Will prepared by a Will Writer, please contact Nia Wharry on Tel: 01256 320 555 for further advice.

Here are some tips for landlords to help deal with tenants when a break clause in a lease is booming:

• Be ready. Do your research on your tenant and try to anticipate their stance. Get up-to-date accounts and look at their operation.  A short visit can often be very illuminating;
• Be ready to remarket your property if negotiations with your tenant break down or they wish to terminate. Put together a pack containing all the necessary planning consents, searches and so on, so a prospective new tenant is in possession of all the information they need to make a decision straight away;
• Make sure you know when and how notices must be issued. The notice you receive from your tenant may not be valid;
• If your tenant wishes to renegotiate their lease, make sure you know your market and can ascertain what their options might be.  Also, consider asking for better security; and
• If you think the tenant is likely to default, remember that your right to repossession of the property may be delayed unless you act first.

Says Charles Marchant-White,

Landlords need to take great care and do their research thoroughly in order to minimise their risks. We can help you control your risks in all property matters.

For more information on Commercial Property, contact Charles Marchant-White on Tel: 01256 320 555.

The Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 (REPA 2007) removed business rates relief for most unoccupied properties with effect from 1 April 2008.  REPA 2007 was widely criticised by the property industry as an additional strain on businesses in a time of economic difficulty.

In response to this criticism, the 2008 Pre-Budget Report announced that empty properties with rateable values of up to £15,000 would be exempt from business rates for the year 2009/10.  The exemption was implemented with effect from 1 April 2009.

This resulted in an estimated 70% of empty commercial properties being exempt from paying business rates.

The 2009 Pre-Budget Review announced that the temporary increase in the threshold for empty property relief will be extended for a further year and the threshold increased to £18,000.  This higher threshold reflects the effects of the 2010 business rates revaluation. The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (2010 regulations) have been passed to bring these changes into effect on 1 April 2010.

However, despite pressure from the property industry, the Government continues to assert that, in the long term, it is right to charge rates when properties stand empty. A rating charge encourages owners to re-let and reuse empty property, and owners of empty properties should not expect subsidy. 

Consequently the 2010 regulations provide that the threshold will reduce to £2,600 for financial years beginning on and after 1 April 2011.

For more information on Commercial Property, contact Charles Marchant-White on Tel: 01256 320 555.

On 9 December, the Chancellor announced that there will be some concessions to the rules for new businesses and ‘micro businesses’ which will mean some employees may not have to be enrolled into a pension scheme until 2016. Details of the implementation plan are expected to be announced imminently.

Under the provisions, the employer will be required to contribute a minimum of three per cent of salary. The employee will be required to contribute a minimum of four per cent salary, up to a maximum amount.

The provisions will be phased over four years, at the end of which (from year five onwards) the combined employer and employee contribution must equal at least eight per cent of salary.

There will be substantial fines for failure to comply with the new regulations.

Clearly, there are likely to be many changes between now and the planned implementation dates, but this is a good time to start thinking through the potential impact of the new regime on your business.

For more information, please contact Paul Cowdery on Tel: 01256 320 555.

Conveyancer and HIP provider myhomemove said the packs had caused the number of failed property transactions it was involved in to dip to 9% since the full introduction of HIPs last April. The figure was significantly lower than the 23% average failure rate published by the government in 2007, before the introduction of HIPs.

The data for more than 10,000 sales where myhomemove acted for buyers also showed HIPs had speeded up transactions by about six days, with average time taken to complete now 50 calendar days.

However, Richard Barnett, chairman of the Law Society’s conveyancing and land law committee, commenting on myhomemove’s figures, said HIPs were unlikely to have played a significant part in reducing the failure rate.  Instead, he put the drop down to the unusual market conditions.

Paul Cowdery of Clarke & Son comments:

HIPS with up-to-date searches (i.e. usually no later than 3 months old when we receive instructions) can help to speed up the legal investigation of papers, but I still find in practice that they are of little interest to purchasers who only rarely say that they have viewed the HIP before putting in an offer.  If the market is active then HIPs can help but where it is sluggish there can be duplication of cost where buyers have to renew out of date searches. The jury is still out!

For further information on legal services when buying or selling your home or for the preparation of or consideration of a HIP then contact Paul Cowdery or Jenny Axe on Tel: 01256 320 555.

The guidance has been prepared to help those responsible for managing the risks from asbestos best protect those workers who may disturb it.  It will:

• Help people who carry out asbestos surveys and those with specific responsibilities for managing the risks from asbestos in non-domestic premises under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 (CAR 2006).
• Provide guidance in situations where surveys may be carried out for other purposes, for example for managing asbestos in domestic premises under wider health and safety legislation and for meeting the requirements of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM).

The guidance is aimed at those who commission asbestos surveys, the surveyors who carry them out and those who use the surveys, such as architects and demolition or removal contractors.

For more information, please contact Charles Marchant-White on Tel: 01256 320 555.

 For more information on Wills & Probate and Inheritance Tax, contact Nia Wharry on Tel: 01256 320 555.