Making the big changeover

Final arrangements for the switchover to the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012 on Monday 8 December are now in place. To accommodate the many enhancements and changes to our supporting IT systems, the Land Register and the General Register of Sasines will be closed on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 December. Related IT services will also be unavailable on these dates, specifically Registers Direct, eForms, and ARTL. 

Applications received after 4.30pm on Wednesday 3 December will be considered on the next business day, namely 8 December, and must therefore comply with the 2012 Act. Any applications submitted on 1979 Act forms will be rejected and returned so that they can be completed on the 2012 Act application form. No rejection fee will be charged.

Our other registers and services will continue as usual and our customer service centres will be fully staffed to handle your enquiries. All our systems and services will be operational again on the designated day, Monday 8 December.

For more information on our preparations for the designated day, visit ros.gov.uk/2012act

2012 Act guidance update

Further detailed 2012 Act guidance on fees, registrable deeds, compensation, warranty and prescriptive claimants has recently been added to the 2012 Act website at ros.gov.uk/2012act

Our website guidance aims to provide appropriate registration and practical assistance on all aspects of the 2012 Act and contains downloadable PDFs, FAQs, and information videos. Further topics will be added in the lead-up to the designated day. To receive automatic email updates when new guidance topics are added to the site, sign up for alerts at ros.gov.uk/2012act/ezine.html

10 years: have your say

We are now in the final weeks of our public consultation on the completion of the Land Register. Scottish ministers have set a target for completing the Land Register in 10 years and the consultation focuses on the methods and approach for enabling this.

Don’t miss your chance to have your say on one of Scotland’s most important issues by completing a consultation response by Tuesday 4 November. The consultation document and respondent form is available under the “consultations” tab on our website at ros.gov.uk

Pre-registration enquiries: 2012 Act

Under the current pre-registration enquiries service, the Keeper gives a view on the likely approach Registers of Scotland will take under the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 to the registration issue in question. 

In the main, the Keeper is asked for guidance on whether or not a particular title discrepancy will result in indemnity being withdrawn, or is asked for advice on the evidence that should be submitted to demonstrate that a valid title exists.

However, the Land Registration etc (Scotland) Act 2012 realigns registration law with property law and, accordingly, it will not be appropriate for the Keeper to state a view on property law matters where the titles are to be registered under the new legislation (i.e. on or after 8 December 2014). It is for the parties and their solicitors to reach agreement as to whether any proposed deed is legally valid and the application for registration meets the terms of the new legislation. Registers of Scotland will then register any application submitted that meets the appropriate criteria. 

Full guidance on the new procedures for registration can be found on the 2012 Act website.

Service standards update

• More than 160,000 dealings with whole have been despatched within 2 days, and 99.5% are completed within the target of 30 working days
• 100% of standard first registrations have met the 40-day service standard
• 100% of ARTL cases are processed within 24 hours
• All Sasine deeds have been despatched within 20 days, and the average turnaround time is 5 days