ARTL picks up speed

Since the first live application for registration of a dealing in the Land Register was successfully processed in ARTL at the end of July (Journal, August, 54), Registers of Scotland have commenced the rollout of the system for commercial use with a small number of firms and lending institutions. By September more than 50 applications, involving standard securities and discharges, had been successfully processed and the Agency expects that over 150 such applications will have been handled by the end of October.

Although these applications are being processed by the automated system, each one is at present also being monitored by Agency staff to ensure that it is completed satisfactorily, and early indications are that the system is performing as planned. Once a sufficient number and variety of applications has been processed, we will undertake a detailed assessment of this first period of live, commercial use, in liaison with the participating firms and institutions and the Society prior to signing up more firms and institutions. This in turn will lead to the full rollout of the system across the country, on a county by county basis.

So far the live operation of the system has provided both the Agency and the participating firms and institutions with valuable experience in ensuring that the participants’ IT systems meet the basic requirements of ARTL and are appropriately configured, and that their security protection allows for the necessary communication with the Agency’s systems. This should ensure that when the wider sign-up of firms takes place, these requirements will not cause problems in practice.

To date more than 500 firms have received their ARTL licences. The actual sign-up to enable firms to use the system will require a member of the Agency’s staff to visit the firm, and preparations are now being made for this significant initiative. If your firm has not yet applied for a licence but anticipates wanting to use ARTL, it is recommended that you apply without delay. For the straightforward procedure involved, see the application pack on the Agency’s website, at http://www.ros.gov.uk/artl/literature.html

We will be in touch with firms holding licences well before they are due to be signed onto the ARTL system, and will provide a report of our assessment of the early use of the system in a forthcoming edition of the Journal. We also anticipate updating the ARTL literature on our website over the coming weeks. In addition ARTL will feature as one of the main agenda items at a series of conveyancing conferences due to be staged jointly with the Society in six locations around Scotland during November.

Bruce Beveridge, Deputy Keeper, Registers of Scotland