Use DPA to cut rejections

We were delighted when RoS won the “Best Supporting Organisation” for our Development Plan Approval (DPA) service at the Homes for Scotland Awards last year. To date, we have approved more than 700 Scottish developments through DPA, and we are working hard to promote the service so that we can share the benefits of DPA with as many customers as possible.

DPA offers a start-to-finish service, from identifying any issues with extent or ownership at the start of the planning stage, through to a deeds check prior to an application being made. Our team can help to ensure that references to the DPA plan are correct, ensuring real burdens are properly constituted, and make certain that conveyances of any rights in common are properly described. This “conversation before registration” can also highlight any discrepancies, reducing the potential of rejection.

We would encourage applicants to submit not only the deed of conditions or the like over a development, but also the style disposition or dispositions on every occasion. This allows us to check as much as possible and carry out preparatory work so that when the applications are submitted, there are no surprises. We know that rejections are a source of frustration for our customers, and we are committed to reducing their number. Applying for deeds check reduces the risk of rejection at registration stage. Along with the improved guidance on our Knowledge Base, the recent changes to the application form, and progress towards becoming a fully digital business by 2020, we are confident that DPA is improving RoS services, not only for our customers, but for yours.

Lloyds signs up to DDS

We were delighted to reach a major milestone for our Digital Discharge Service (DDS) in April as we welcomed Lloyds Banking Group to the service.

DDS offers a faster, more secure and more efficient discharge service that’s not just fully digital, but more intuitive and user-friendly as well.

The team at Lloyds discovered these improvements for themselves during their initial trial of DDS, working alongside our dedicated team to help us develop and improve the system. With the trial complete, Lloyds are now processing live transactions through DDS across a number of their business areas, including their Bank of Scotland and Halifax operations. As part of the setup, they’ve been provided with a number of new smartcards, which allow them to securely sign each discharge electronically. This will make a significant difference on the time it takes them to sign off discharges across their operations.

The addition of Lloyds to DDS means that solicitors will be able to bring the time-saving efficiency benefits of the service to a much wider range of clients, and is a significant step forward for the service. DDS is an important development for the industry as a whole and we are working towards making DDS the standard service for discharging standard securities.

ScotLIS: the platform of choice

We recently published our corporate plan for 2018-21. The plan reiterates our commitment to making ScotLIS the platform of choice for property and land information in Scotland.

We are working to develop ScotLIS all the time, adding new features that are making the land and property information we hold more accessible. The Sasine Register, the Land Register and the Register of Inhibitions can now be accessed via ScotLIS, and we recently added a feature that means business users can reset their password directly through ScotLIS. This new chosen password will work for all RoS digital services accessed through an online services account. 

The introduction of this feature is based on customer feedback, and the involvement of our partners is core to creating a service that is easy to understand and straightforward to use. Our Digital Uptake team continues to work with stakeholders to promote ScotLIS, identify any issues, and listen to feedback as we progress towards putting ScotLIS front and centre when it comes to accessing information about land and property, while providing the same legal status as our legacy service. 

ScotLIS has received positive feedback from business users. Turcan Connell recently told us that the biggest improvement for them has been the ability to carry out a map-based search for titles which are already registered in the Land Register. Bell Ingram LLP said that ScotLIS has already brought savings in terms of both time and costs, and that this is expected to increase as they bring more internal users onto the service.

Forthcoming additions to ScotLIS include the ability to search for presentments by name, and a function that will allow users to download title information. We welcome your ongoing feedback, as we continue to grow the capacity of ScotLIS throughout the year.