Affiliate Members Archives

Scottish Association of Landlords

Posted on September 16, 2022December 14, 2023 by Fiona Campbell

Considering long term lets? SAL can save you time and money
Letting in the private rented sector differs significantly to operating short term lets. The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) specialises only in that sector and has over 20 years’ experience of supporting Scottish landlords and letting agents to provide high quality privately rented housing.

Here are a few points from SAL chief executive John Blackwood (pictured) to consider if you’re thinking of letting a property longer term.

Mandatory landlord registration
Safety certification differs
Private Residential Tenancy applies – no fixed term lets now
Recent changes to the process for giving notice to leave
Deposits legislation differs
The First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) deals with disputes
Mandatory letting agent registration for anyone who lets a property that isn’t owned by them. This usually even applies to letting of property owned by family members other than spouses/partners

For individual information and advice, we strongly recommend you join SAL. SAL membership is available until the end of September 2022 on a special deal for ASSC members. Please call SAL on 0131 564 0100 or email them to benefit from three months free membership when joining for a year (15 months for the price of 12, one annual fee). You can also join SAL online. If you do that, please reply to your welcome email from SAL, with your ASSC membership number. The extra three months will be applied on the next working day and you’ll be emailed again.

SAL membership benefits:

website members resources area: downloadable factsheets and all documentation required for letting
unlimited access to their unique Scottish letting advice helpline – invaluable with any problems you may require specialist advice on
discounted core standards training sessions from Landlord Accreditation Scotland
campaigning on behalf of members
discounts on other useful seminars
member deals on goods and services
10% off at B&Q with SAL TradePoint card
subscription to Landlord Focus magazine
regular email updates directly to your inbox
local meetings all over Scotland via our 14 branches – currently held via Zoom
add your voice to SAL’s lobbying of Holyrood and Westminster politicians about landlord and agent interests

SAL is run by landlords and letting agents for the benefit of members letting property in the private rented sector. SAL policy and parliamentary affairs specialists can also assist with any issues you may have with local authorities and contact MSPs on your behalf, if required. The more landlords and agents that join SAL, the louder their voice, so SAL hopes to welcome you on board.

N.B. please bear in mind the SAL subscription fee is an allowable expense on your tax return to set against letting income.

If SAL can be of assistance or if you would like any more information about the various membership benefits, please do let them know. The SAL team looks forward to being of service to you.

Please have a look at the reviews left by SAL members.

To access SAL reviews on Google please click here
To access SAL reviews on Trustpilot please click here
To access SAL reviews on Facebook please click here

Member Offer from Kinrara Distillery

Posted on August 12, 2020September 11, 2023 by Melanie Allen

Kinrara Distillery

The ASSC has teamed up with Aviemore based gin-maker, Kinrara Distillery, to help make sure members can keep themselves and their guests safe as the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and life and business returns to normal.

As a membership organisation made up of innovative, dynamic, and entrepreneurial small businesses, the ASSC is delighted to partner with Kinrara who will be providing their globally recognised hand sanitiser to ASSC members.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kinrara Distillery lost nearly all of its trade through pubs, bars, restaurants and independent retailers.

Fortunately, they were able to repurpose the distillery into the production of World Health Organisation recipe hand sanitiser.

Kinrara are now encouraging shops and businesses to make sure that they can get back to business safely with their 80 percent alcohol hand sanitiser.

And, of course, enjoy a gin and tonic or two…

While the market is currently flooded with larger firms making hand sanitiser with a reduced alcohol content, Kinrara’s product is 80 percent alcohol (as recommended by WHO) and is therefore ideal for use in ASSC members’ properties.

Kinrara are a small Scottish business and are keen to support other small Scottish businesses.

They make their gin and hand sanitiser just outside Aviemore in the Cairngorm National Park and can ship anywhere in the UK.

It has never been more important that Scottish businesses be able to rely on each other and so we’re delighted to welcome this new relationship which will benefit both organisations.

Kinrara Distillery Price List for ASSC Members

ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“Scottish self-caterers appreciate the importance of supporting small Scottish businesses and so the opportunity to partner with a great company like Kinrara was something we could not pass up.

“In addition to their delicious gin, Kinrara also make a brilliant hand sanitiser product that our members will be proud to stock in their properties.

“The safety and security of our guests and members is of paramount importance to us and we’re delighted to be working with the great guys at Kinrara to reassure everyone involved of our commitment to this.”

Kinrara Distillery Commercial Manager, Luke Fenton, said:

“We were proud to turn the majority of our commercial operation over to the production of much-needed hand sanitiser for an extended period during the COVID-19 pandemic; we felt that we were doing our duty.

“Now, as Scotland’s economy continues to reopen, we’re delighted to offer ASSC members this special offer, to help reduce their costs and make sure that everyone stays safe as we move into the next stage of the recovery.

“We encourage ASSC members to take us up on this offer and perhaps even buy a bottle or two of gin; while hand sanitiser is great at keeping your hands clean, it’s not much use over ice with tonic – we’ve got other products that are perfect for that.”

For more information contact:

Go Rural Live Farm Tours Bring Scottish Farming to New Audiences

Posted on July 25, 2020February 11, 2024 by Melanie Allen

The ASSC sends congratulations to GoRural on the huge success of the Live Farm Tours over the past few months and welcomes Agri-Tourism Self-Catering Businesses to ASSC.

Scotland’s close-knit network of agritourism farmers have reached out to thousands of families stuck at home during lockdown by bringing a live daily virtual tour into living rooms via the Go Rural Facebook page.

Initially started by a few farming friends keen to cheer people up by conducting a daily virtual tour of fourteen different lambing sheds, two weeks of “Lambathon” had then become such a hit with audiences at home, that “Welcome to my Farm” followed on.

Almost one hundred farmers normally busy welcoming tourists and visitors in their agritourism side of their business have taken part so far, attracting ten thousand families watching live and generating a reach of almost two and a half million on Facebook. Seven hundred and fifty thousand minutes of videos of Scottish farm life have been watched to date, with many people watching the videos on “catch up” in the evenings. Many of those watching live outside Scotland, with a strong demand for an insight to Scottish rural life from people in the rest of the UK as well as daily viewers from the USA, Canada and European cities.

Caroline Millar, who with the support of Visit Scotland has helped to set up the daily tours commented, “All types of farming enterprise has been showcased from dairy farms in Dumfries and Galloway to hill sheep farms in Argyll, strawberries and soft fruit in Aberdeenshire to crofts in Shetland. As well as providing an insight to farming life to those watching, the agritourism entrepreneurs have been able to take people for a tour of their on-farm accommodation, farm cafes & shops, wedding venues and event spaces, with even a speed boat tour of Loch Lomond being featured. The hope in streaming the tourism and leisure experiences available, is that this will stimulate interest and demand to visit a Scottish farm post lockdown for a day out or holiday, generating considerable benefit for the rural economy.”

A survey of those who have been watching the tours has shown that learning more about Scottish food was one of the top reasons why people enjoyed watching the live tours. With a growing trend during Covid of the public buying direct from farmers and more and more agritourism businesses offering food experiences to guests, those behind Go Rural hope that the live tours will increase demand for Scottish farm produce and food tourism on farms. The strong interest in food has led to the next phase of the live tours, “Come to Lunch on my Farm” with local cooks and chefs now being invited on to farms for a live farm tour and a cookery demonstration using farm produce.

None of the farmers taking part had ever conducted a live tour on Facebook before, with all having to learn how to juggle using the technology with the adrenalin rush of broadcasting live to the world. Almost all have gone on to do conduct live tours on their own social media channels, with an increased confidence in speaking live to potential customers.

Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of Visit Scotland commented, “These virtual tours have been a shining example of how easy it is for businesses to use social media technology, alongside some wonderful content, to stay connected and inspire visitors from Scotland and around the world. From ‘Lambathon’ to ‘Welcome to my Farm’ and now developing that to cooking demonstrations is testament to the energy, enthusiasm and innovation of agri-tourism businesses here in Scotland. It’s a sector that has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and one which will continue to grow. Visitor trends and insights show us that people are favouring a rural setting to get away with family now that we are able to travel further, so these businesses are certainly well placed to capitalise on this and I’m sure will give guests a very warm Scottish welcome.”

The use of technology to bring together the agritourism network has also been highlighted by the sector coming together each week during Covid to support each other. Already a sector where there are strong networks and where farmers help each other out, the Covid lockdown virtual networking combined with the consumer facing Go Rural tours has led to the development of a new formal structure, Scottish Agritourism, to represent a unified voice for the sector. Scottish Agritourism sits within the umbrella of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, where agritourism has been represented within the STA Council for the past six years.

Commenting on the launch of Scottish Agritourism, Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the STA said “One of the most prominent good news stories to emerge from the Covid crisis has been the emergence of this growing appetite for people to feel and experience a connection to Scotland’s rural parts and Go Rural must be commended for tapping into this trend so quickly and innovatively to bring a piece of Scotland’s farming life into our homes. The interests of the agritourism sector have been represented at the STA Council table for many years and we are delighted to have elevated this relationship to become a formal part of the STA membership offering; clearly there is a demand and a need for Scotland’s agritourism businesses to not only strengthen the voice of its members, but to share these wonderful examples of entrepreneurship to stimulate innovation across all of our tourism sectors.”

Find out more about joining Scottish Agritourism and ASSC Membership for Agri-Tourism Businesses Here

For more information on GoRural please contact:

Caroline Millar, Scottish Agritourism

caroline@goruralforbusiness.com

Tel 07584 660 541