The Commercial Property Conference at Scots Law 2025

Murrayfield Stadium is the venue for the next event in our Scots Law Conference Series, exclusively available to delegates in person on the day.

Covering practical topics from rent review and alienation to insolvency and avoiding risk in coal mining areas, our new Commercial Property Conference will be chaired by David Steel of Harper Macleod and will include presentations from Ken Gerber of Mitchells Roberton, Elaine Petterson from Brodies, Martin Bennett of Harper Macleod, Amir Ismail from Holmes Mackillop and Lisa Conway and Martin Beal of the Mining Remediation Authority. Ryden's Dr Mark Robertson will provide a keynote Scottish property market update.

What's being covered?

Ryden Scottish property market update

This session will provide an assessment of the Scottish economy with a particular focus on residential development and investment, office markets, industrial property markets, retail and leisure property markets and investment property.

Dr Mark Robertson, Ryden

Rent Review – current issues

This comprehensive session will consider: assumptions - fitted out - licences; disregards of licences, tenant’s works and prior lease alterations; inflation linked reviews – pitfalls for the unwary; saving provisions and waiver of review.

Ken Gerber, Mitchells Roberton

Common commercial property insolvency issues

This session will cover the commercial property related issues which can arise as a result of insolvency.  It will provide an overview of the different insolvency regimes and the different ways these can affect commercial property.  We will also cover the considerations for conveyancers when buying a commercial property from an insolvency practitioner, as well as looking at the common leasing issues which can arise when a tenant becomes insolvent, so that attendees will be aware of the key points to consider when advising clients on commercial property related insolvency issues.

Elaine Petterson, Brodies

Alienation – the law, the lease, the practice

After providing a brief review of common law provisions relating to alienation, this session will consider the alienation provisions in a commercial lease, including: assignation, sub-letting and sharing occupancy; the need for landlord consent and potential requirements for change of use; alterations by the assignee or sub-tenant; and any need to give a deposit or guarantee. The practicalities of dealing with a tenant wanting to assign a lease or sub-let, including the documentation involved for the alienation itself and also for the obtaining of landlord consent, and intimation and registration of documents will also be discussed.

Martin Bennett, Harper Macleod

‘The Ground Identity’ - successful property developments begin with the right reports

As the UK’s only public body dedicated to managing coal mining legacy, the Mining Remediation Authority has been a cornerstone of due diligence in the legal and property sectors for over 30 years. In this session we will guide you through the key differences between our Non-Residential CON29M and Consultants Reports, helping you understand how each supports confident decision making in commercial property purchases and property development scenarios. Following that, Andrew Bussey from Johnson Poole and Bloomer will walk you through a real-life case study, demonstrating how the Consultants Report adds real value in practice. By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to better protect your clients and safeguard your professional reputation when handling property development across former mining areas.

Lisa Conway & Martin Beal, the Mining Remediation Authority