OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND - The Journal Online

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INNIS: Retirement Housing Advice Service
I
AM writing to tell members of the Law Society about the work that INNIS does and to raise awareness of some of the difficulties which
owners of retirement housing experience. Solicitors play a vital role in advising their clients when the purchase of a retirement flat is being
considered. Retirement housing, sometimes known as owner occupied sheltered housing, has become a small but significant part of the property
market. Older people who decide to buy this type of housing hope that it will be a home for the rest of their lives. Their expectations are
that it will offer a level of security and improved quality of life in retirement. Unfortunately for some, their experiences have not
matched their expectations leading to disillusionment, frustration, anger and in some cases lengthy legal proceedings.
INNIS is an advice service run by Age Concern
Scotland providing information and advice to
owners and prospective owners of retirement
housing. It is not intended to replace legal advice
given by solicitors. The service has been running
for two years and deals with a wide range of
issues from general enquiries made by potential
purchasers about the location of developments
to very complex problems relating to deed of
conditions. Our work includes building good
working relationships with the other professional
bodies who are involved with retirement housing,
including solicitors, estate agents, managing agents
and the Scottish Executive. Our aim is to ensure
that older people who choose retirement
properties are given sound, impartial advice and
COULD not the Council of
Mortgage Lenders, rather than
mess around making inane
pronouncements on Property
Enquiry Certificates, do
something useful for Agents
representing its members and
produce a website or CR-ROM
containing styles of all the known
Standard Securities, Assignations
and other documents used by
lenders? This could be updated
from the Internet on a monthly
basis and would prove of great
use to hard-pressed legal
secretaries having to leave their
state-of-the-art termini to revert
to cranky old typewriters several
times a week.
Magnus K Moodie
Magnus K Moodie WS, Edinburgh
information before they buy and that they
receive acceptable standards of service from the
managing agent in their new home.
It is clear that, for many of the owners who
contact us, the source of the problem can be
traced to the purchase of their property and a
lack of understanding about the terms and
conditions attached. Part of the work that INNIS
does is to encourage potential purchasers to
consider these issues and to ask the relevant
questions before they make their final decision.
For example, how are major repairs and
replacements for which each owner has joint
responsibility paid for? Is there a sinking fund?
Will the sinking fund cover the cost of planned
and unplanned maintenance or will owners have
Fees frozen for access requests
IN September’s Journal
you published a short article by
Derek Hamilton under the heading
“Access to Health Records - an
update” in which Mr Hamilton was
making the point that as from 24th
October, in terms of the Data
Protection (Subject Access) (Fees
and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Regulations 2000, the maximum fee
chargeable for all access requests
would be £10 whether the records
were manual, automated or a mixture
of both.
The article, however, was slightly
premature in that the Lord
Chancellor`s Department which
since June has been responsible for
data protection and freedom of
information matters within
Government, issued the following
Press Notice on 27 September -
“The Government has announced
that the charges levied by the NHS
for providing individuals with access
to their health records will continue
at current levels for the time being.
This means that the maximum fee
that can be levied is £10 for records
held on computer and £50 for
paper records or other media.
“Over the past year the
Government has been working with
key groups, including representatives
from the NHS and patient interests,
to evaluate the charges that are
levied under the Data Protection
Act 1998 for providing individuals
with copies of their health records.
“The issue has been to strike a balance
between ensuring that cost is
not a barrier to individuals requesting
access to their health records
and allowing the NHS to recoup
costs incurred in servicing requests,
so that essential resources are not
diverted from providing direct
patient care.
“This is a difficult balance to strike
but a Department of Health led
review of the current charges
established that the present
to be prepared to make additional payments to
cover the cost? We believe that in most cases
owners are willing to accept this additional
financial liability much more readily if they know
about it before they buy.
We would like all members of the Society to be
aware of these issues so that they can advise their
clients accordingly. We have leaflets and other
information which can be sent to members and
their clients. We are happy to discuss any aspect
of our work and can be contacted at INNIS
Retirement Housing Advice Service, 113 Rose
Street, Edinburgh EH2 3DT. Tel 0131 220 6347
Fax 0131 220 2779.
Euphan Todd
arrangement provides an
acceptable compromise given current
technology and record keeping
practice.
“The Government is committed to
continuing discussions with key
interest groups and to working
closely with the Information
Commissioner with the aim of
achieving a long term solution.”
The £50 maximum fee under the
Regulations, therefore, remains for
the time being.
Mr Hamilton also refers to the qualification
in s.8 of the Act - I would suggest
that given the volume and nature
of many types of medical records it
should be relatively straightforward
for a Medical Records Officer to
show, in appropriate cases, that
supplying copies requires “disproportionate
effort.”
Alan Sharp,
Scottish Health Service CLO