IN THIS SECTION:

About us

How we work

The best time to influence new legislation, regulations or taxes is when they are being considered and drafted by relevant officials.

We have built excellent working relationships with government departments and other regulatory bodies that deal with issues that affect property, providing them with the industry view.

We are consulted by these bodies and we will work with them to support policies that are helpful to the industry, or seek to improve or change those policies that are unhelpful.

EXPAND

How we work with government

To achieve our lobbying objective we work with government in a number of different ways.

We:

identify and build relationships with key decision makers in government, agencies of government, local authorities and in non-governmental organisations, that take decisions affecting the property industry
create opportunities to represent the views of our members with such decision makers, both formally and informally
consult with government about proposed legislation affecting the property industry through frequent meetings with officials, ministers and advisers, and through written submissions to consultations
are consulted by government to provide advice on specific issues and are invited to take part in working groups
use the goodwill and understanding generated through this participation to achieve active involvement in setting the policy agenda for property
work closely with organisations representing other aspects of the property industry to provide a co-ordinated voice for the industry as a whole
work collaboratively with NGOs and other professional and trade bodies in developing the guidance and tools necessary to meet emerging regulation

EXPAND

Our lobbying successes

We and our colleagues in London have had success in recent years in a number of areas. These include persuading the Scottish or UK Government to:

introduce real estate investment trusts (REITs), and further changes to allow them to pay their dividends in shares
adopt the idea of tax increment financing - a method of kick-starting regeneration - and the encouragement to allow pilot schemes in various parts of Scotland
keep non-residential properties out of the scope of the new 5% rate of stamp duty land tax for £1mn+ properties
scrap planning gain supplement and to encourage flexible developer contribution policies by local authorities, related where possible to income streams
encourage institutional investment in the private rented sector, particularly through the disaggregation of SDLT on bulk purchases of residential properties by investors and landlords
maintain long term empty property rate relief for vacant properties
inject realism into its energy performance and carbon reduction policies relating to property
reduce hikes in energy efficiency standards for new build commercial properties from a planned 50% to 30%
not abolish upward only rent reviews.

EXPAND

Raising our profile

In addition to lobbying, we also use a range of different means to build awareness of our campaigns and to raise the profile and reputation of the industry.

Although we mainly work directly with government officials, ministers, MPs, MSPs and peers, it is useful if a wider audience - including key non-governmental organisations, local and regional decision makers, the professions and the wider public - are aware of our activities and the positive things occurring within the industry.

We work very closely with the trade, national and local media to get our messages across to a wide audience, issuing press releases and giving interviews on a very regular basis. We rely heavily on our members to provide us with data, case studies, examples and spokespeople to support our campaigns.

We also organise our own conferences and seminars, and take part in other organisations' events to enable us to communicate with people who we would not normally reach.

EXPAND

Working with other organisations

We work closely with other trade bodies in Scotland and the UK where there are advantages to be gained from pooling our resources or from lobbying in a collective, co-ordinated way. As part of the BPF we are also linked with similar organisations in countries around the world and this produces concerted action to identify common standards (for example in terms of the built environment's global contribution to the carbon emissions reduction agenda) and frequently in relation to EU initiatives via our BPF membership of the European Property Federation.

They include:

As you move from page to page, this column shows you some of the useful information stored on this site

Or you can use this search:

16 good reasons to join SPF

Go for Growth with Scotland's Economy
See our property manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections of May 2011.

SPF Membership Application Form 2013