An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technology (ACIAT), Dunfermline-based Calum will manage a three-strong team with a brief to grow its headcount both this year and next.

Calum joined DM Hall in 2017 with a first-class honours’ degree in architectural technology from Edinburgh Napier University and has substantial experience in dealing with the, often complex, property issues that can arise from Land Registry and alteration documentation.

Acknowledging his promotion, Calum said: “Incomplete titles to property are far from uncommon, perhaps because of the absence of planning permission or a building warrant, and the main thrust of our work at DM Hall is to assist clients to identify potentially tricky issues and then resolve them.

“The resolution part can often be complicated and there is no way of getting around that other than by working through diligent, informed processing. And it may be, ultimately, only by rectifying a title and/or obtaining alteration documentation that a property sale can proceed.”

Calum believes issues concerning property boundaries have arisen significantly of late partly because of the Covid-19 lockdown, with people having more time to spend thinking about their property and looking at their grounds.

He added: “lots of people have been upsizing or downsizing, and alterations to properties need to be formalised, or building warrants obtained, so we are busy.

“The first half of 2021 has been the most active I have experienced, with many more enquiries for garage conversions and small extensions. Financially, too, we are growing following our recent overhaul of the suite of services we can provide and a more robust fee structure that makes it easier for clients to anticipate the cost of our input.”

DM Hall managing partner, John McHugh, said: “We are delighted by the progress made by Calum and his team in resolving client property title issues and we foresee further strong growth in this sector.”