National Code of Practice for GP premises

Glossary Of Terms

Assignation - the Scots law term for the transfer of rights and duties from one person to another. Where a tenant’s interest in a lease is assigned by the tenant, Person A, to Person B, Person A transfers its interest under the lease to Person B. Person B becomes the tenant under the lease with the tenant’s right to occupy the property and the tenant’s obligations under the lease such as to pay rent and to comply with any maintenance requirements the lease imposes. Leases can only very rarely be assigned without the permission of the landlord. Normally the landlord must agree to Person B becoming the tenant. Usually the lease will contain a provision that this consent is ‘not to be unreasonably withheld’. As Person B will become bound by the tenant’s obligations, Person B must also accept the assignation.

Break option - a clause in a lease which allows either the tenant, the landlord or both to terminate the lease earlier than the agreed expiry date. A break clause can normally only be used at certain points during the lease after giving the requisite notice.

Dilapidations - if a tenant does not comply with the maintenance and/or repair obligations under the lease, the tenant is in breach of contract. The landlord could require the tenant to comply with the lease or carry out the relevant repairs and charge the tenant or in extreme cases terminate the lease. Usually the landlord chooses not to do so provided that the tenant pays the rent and any other sums due under the lease. However at the end of the lease, the landlord then almost always serves a notice on the tenant known as a schedule of dilapidations. This identifies how the tenant has breached its maintenance and/or repairing obligations under the lease and the remedial actions needed (with their estimated costs) to bring the premises back to the standard required by the lease. In most cases the landlord will claim from the tenant the money needed to restore the property to the condition it would have been in if the tenant had not breached the lease. Usually there is some negotiation between the landlord and tenant as to what the landlord can properly claim under the schedule of dilapidations. Specialist surveyors and lawyers can be involved to negotiate settlements for such claims.

District Valuer Services - the specialist property arm of the Valuation Office Agency ( VOA). It provides independent valuation and professional property advice to bodies across the entire public sector, and where public money or public functions are involved.

Existing Use Value ( EUV) - the value of the property if it is going to continue being used for the same purpose it is currently used for.

Health and Social Care Partnership, “ HSCP” - an Integration Authority established under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) Scotland Act 2014

Market Value - the estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the date of valuation between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm’s length transaction after proper marketing wherein the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion.

Notional Rent - a payment made by Health Boards to GP contractors who own and occupy their own premises.

Premises Directions - the Primary Medical Services (Premises Development Grants, Improvement Grants and Premises Costs) Directions. The current Premises Directions were issued in 2004. Revised Directions will be issued early in 2018.

Schedule of conditions - a record of the condition the building was in at a certain date, often when a tenant first takes possession of the building. It usually comprises narrative along with relevant photographs and drawings. The usual purpose of a schedule of condition, when annexed to a lease, is to modify or clarify the repairing obligations.

Variation - a change to a lease. A lease can only be varied with the consent of the parties to that lease.