March 2018 - ASSC

Update on minimum EPC requirement

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Fiona Campbell

There is currently a lot of press coverage about landlords having to ensure their property meet a minimum EPC rating from 1 April 2018. Please note that this legislation doesn’t apply to Scotland. Scotland is a bit further behind England and Wales in this respect. The Scottish Government consulted on plans to introduce a similar requirement last year and we are expecting legislation setting out a minimum EPC requirement to be drafted and laid before parliament later this year. We do not yet know what EPC rating the legislation will require, although the proposal consulted on was to set the standard at E initially, rising to D after 5 years. The consultation proposed various exemptions (including one for works which require conservation area/listed building consent where that consent is not given) and a cost cap of £5000 per property. It is likely that there will be a lead in time of at least two years before any legislation comes into force in Scotland.

With thanks to the Scottish Association of Landlords for this update.

Meanwhile, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers has been in discussion with Building Standards and Scottish Government for some time regarding the introduction of a requirement for all self-catering units to have an Energy Performance Certificate, and for the EPC rating to be identified on all advertisements.

The ASSC has serious concerns regarding the unintended consequences surrounding this new legislation and the potentially significant impact it may have on the self-catering sector in Scotland.

The ASSC considers that the withdrawal of exemption for EPCs to be disproportionate and unreasonable and believes that the Scottish Government should clarify that an exemption should be granted for short-term holiday lets in terms of compliance with the Energy Performance Certificate, as occurs in several other European Union Member States.

Overall, we contend that the notion of an EPC on short-term holiday lets is both impractical, unnecessary and potentially damaging to tourism business. The Scottish Government should be looking to maximise the opportunities for our tourist economy and not impose unnecessary burdens on the holiday let industry.

Tourist Tax – What is Your Opinion?

Posted on March 21, 2018December 13, 2022 by Fiona Campbell

The Federation of Small Businesses are conducting a survey on the possible introduction of a Tourist Tax. If your business is in Edinburgh, Aberdeenshire, or the Highlands we would appreciate it hugely if you could take literally 2 minutes to give them your opinion.

Take the Survey if you are in Edinburgh (closes Monday 9th April at 4.30pm)

Take the Survey if you are in Aberdeenshire (closes Friday 6 April at 4.30pm)

Take the Survey if you are in the Highlands (closes Friday 13 April at 4.30pm)

You can view the ASSC’s position on Tourist Tax here: ASSC’s Position on Tourist Tax

Protect your email account from being hacked

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Fiona Campbell

There has been a Phishing scam going round the tourism industry recently where somebody has claimed to have been in a party staying at a property and they took some photos which they would like to use in a magazine article. They ask if you ‘Would you like to look at them?’ and include a link for you to click. Perhaps too tempting with the chance of publicity. Once clicked they can then attempt to hack in to your personal email account. This of course is just one of many scams.

We do know of situations where hackers have got into holiday house owners own email accounts, re directed emails to themselves, pretended to be the owners and then taken thousands of pounds off guests who are completely unaware they have been dealing with a hacker. As the emails have been re-directed to the hackers, the owner has had no idea that this has been going on. The money is paid over to a fraudulent bank account and the money is gone with the guest thinking they have made a booking and the owner having no idea somebody is expecting to arrive on their door step.

Hacking is sadly a highly organised industry so you need to do as much as you can to protect yourself.

Advice from Action Fraud

Passwords are your first defence against hackers. Harden up any passwords you have on any holiday cottage sites, e-commerce sites, banks etc. For a secure password you should use three words and include a symbol, upper/lower case letters and numbers. Remember the more complex and unique to you your password is, the harder it is to crack. Family and pets names and sequences of numbers are easy pickings for hackers.
Two Factor Authentication. Enabling 2FA is one of the best ways to make sure your accounts don’t get hacked. 2FA is a feature that asks for more than just your password. It requires both “something you know” (like a password) and “something you have” (like your phone). Most email suppliers provide this feature and have step by step instructions on how to install it.
If the unfortunate does happen and your email does get hacked, change your password immediately, run an anti-virus scan on your device and report it to Action Fraud

It is very hard to completely hide your email address from people so do follow all the advice given: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/how-to-protect-your-email-account-from-hackers-aug16

Action Fraud is a useful reference point and articles https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/support_for_you

Gov.uk also provide useful information

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cyber-security-guidance-for-business

Keep an eye on your owners area on the sites you work with. Check the names on enquirers whenever you can. Make telephone contact so that you can build a relationship with enquirers so you and they know who they are dealing with, particularly when it comes to payment.

Stay safe!

This advice is from our friends at GroupAccommodation.