- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned that the introduction of the single survey will artificially inflate house prices.
Answer
The published Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Single Survey (page 33) concluded that the provision of Single Survey by sellers would be unlikely to inflate house prices artificially. House prices are more likely to be influenced by macroeconomic factors such as interest rates.
The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment is available at:
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_014679.hcsp.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that there are sufficient surveyors able to undertake single surveys when they are introduced.
Answer
Research carriedout by Tribal Consulting Limited titled
The Potential Impact of the SingleSurvey on the Property Industry’ examined the ability of the surveyingsector in Scotland to handle the increase in demand for surveying services fromthe introduction of the single survey. The research concluded that the existingcapacity of the surveying sector would be sufficient.The researchreport is available at:
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/pubcs_017893.pdf.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the practice of placing housing offers subject to survey, which reduces the number of multiple house valuations, negates the need to introduce the single survey.
Answer
The offers subject to survey approach helps, in most cases, to address the issue of multiple valuations in the current buying and selling process. However, the approach also reduces the degree of certainty in the transaction process, which has been a key strength of the Scottish house buying and selling process over many years. It is important to consider the balance of arguments between the offers subject to survey approach and the single survey in deciding the way ahead.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the specific legal liabilities are for the buyer and seller in relation to property sales questionnaires.
Answer
The draft regulationswhich were the subject of recent consultation did not include proposals for specific legal liabilitiesfor a buyer or a seller in relation to a property sale questionnaire (PSQ), giventhat it was expected that PSQs would be referred to by solicitors acting on behalfof buyers in the missives of sale as a matter of conveyancing practice.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the surveyors undertaking single surveys do not have conflicts of interest.
Answer
The draftregulations which were the subject of recent consultation provide forstrict criteria for approved providers and the intention is that they shouldmeet or match the professional standards, liability and redress provided bychartered surveyors. For a buyer to rely on a single survey, the provider’sterms and conditions of contract would have to make suitable provision and ifnecessary that would be ensured by legislation.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make changes to the infrastructure of the direct payments scheme and to further encourage local authorities to support them.
Answer
New national guidanceon self-directed support which issued in July tasks local authorities with developinglocal infrastructures and is designed to increase uptake. This can be accessed on
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/181224.
Along with my CabinetSecretary and ministerial colleagues, I am in dialogue with a range of stakeholdersto gather evidence and views on how we use the strategic spending review to setplans that will enable us to fulfil our purpose and achieve our strategic objectives.Increasing the uptake of self-directed support will be part of that consideration.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take in the next four years to promote sharing power equally between men and women in all areas of life, in line with the Equal Opportunities Commission’s Gender Agenda targets.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-3626 on 6 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can befound at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to institute an expiry time limit on single surveys.
Answer
The draftregulations which were the subject of recent consultation proposed that thesingle survey should be no more than 12 weeks old when the property was firstmarketed. However, there was no proposed time limit on the information in the singlesurvey. Rather, it was suggested that this should be a matter for the market,reflecting the need for flexibility to address the circumstances of particularcases.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether purchasers’ information packs will be provided free, or at a reduced rate, to sellers on low incomes.
Answer
The draftregulations which were the subject of recent consultation proposed thatevery seller who marketed their property for sale would be under a duty toprovide, upon request, a single survey and a property sale questionnaire, whichwould form a purchaser’s information pack (PIP). They did not propose that PIPswould be provided free or at a reduced rate to sellers on low incomes, butrather that the market would decide the fees for PIPs.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish an independent living task force to consider properly how independent living concerns can be fully integrated into public policy.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentrecognises the specific references to independent living in work carried out bythe Disability Rights Commission and by the Scottish Parliament’s Equal OpportunitiesCommittee and is currently considering what further steps need to be taken to advanceindependent living in Scotland and we will announce our plans later in the year.
