Forward from a landmark year

Registers of Scotland has had an activity-packed year, and we are heading into 2018 keeping up that momentum. 

Over the past 12 months, RoS has been celebrating the 400 year anniversary of the Sasine Register, and Scotland’s proud history as guardians of the world’s oldest national land register. At the time of its creation, the Sasine Register was an innovative move to protect the rights of the citizens over their land. We are taking that spirit forward as we become a digital registration and information business by 2020. 

Services launched

Our overarching aim is to deliver efficiency for our customers, and our Development Plan Approval (DPA) service was recognised at the Homes for Scotland awards in May for doing just that. DPA ensures that any title extent issues for new developments are identified and resolved before any individual house plots are sold. In so doing, it streamlines the conveyancing and registration process, reduces risk and costs for developers and their professional advisers, improves marketability and speeds up the registration process. Crucially, this means that prospective purchasers and their solicitors can transact safe in the knowledge that they will acquire a good legal title to the house they are buying. 

Our Digital Discharge Service (DDS), launched in June, has also received positive feedback. That service is one that we are continuing to expand as it demonstrably delivers efficiency for our customers. 

Headline events

In the midst of our 400th anniversary celebrations, our new office at St Vincent Plaza (SVP) in Glasgow was officially opened by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown. SVP uses a smart working digital approach designed to ensure we can continue to serve our customers, partners and stakeholders as efficiently as possible.

It was an honour to host the Registrars of Title Conference in October. It was the first time that the conference had been held in Scotland. 

More than 70 delegates from around the world gathered in Edinburgh to share ideas and expertise, and we were proud to showcase the innovative work that is taking place in Scotland to so many of our registration colleagues from across the globe. 

The ScotLIS revolution

ScotLIS – launched in October – was just one of the exciting developments we were able to share with our international partners. ScotLIS is a key component of Registers of Scotland’s digital transformation. It is an easy-to-use, map-based online land and information service. Citizens, communities, professionals and business will be able to access comprehensive information about any piece of land or property in Scotland more easily than ever before. 

ScotLIS allows access to RoS’s own data in a user friendly way, and we will continue to develop the platform in partnership with stakeholders, partners and customers. As we move into a new year, we have exciting challenges ahead as we continue the further development of ScotLIS. We have designed our new digital services by working in close collaboration with partners and stakeholders – just one of the reasons that the services have been well received. That spirit of collaboration is one that we want to continue to embed in our work, and we are keen to hear from you if you want to play a role in helping to shape the future development of our services.

Partnering on a new register

Partnership working is something that RoS engages with across its services, and we are currently working in collaboration with Scottish Government to develop a Register of Letting Agents, a part of the Scottish Government’s regulatory framework to raise standards and empower consumers, providing greater protection and assurances for those in the private rented housing sector.

The service includes an online application system for letting agents, an administration portal to enable processing of applications and a public facing register. RoS is working closely with Scottish Government and letting agents to define, build, test and iterate system designs to provide an intuitive system for users and a modern registration platform for Scotland.

The public beta launch of the service will coincide with the code of practice coming into force on 31 January 2018.