Land Register: steps towards completion

9th April 2015 | commercial property , property (non-commercial)

The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland has given a commitment to complete the transfer of title to all property in Scotland to the Land Register within a period of 10 years. Some of the provisions of the Land Registration etc (Scotland) Act 2012 will contribute to this process, but with such a challenging time frame, more is needed to achieve this target. Voluntary registration, for example, is just that – there is no compulsion to register (although within the first five years, there will be a focus on publicly owned land transferring to the Land Register, through the voluntary registration process).

In its recent report on the consultation on completion of the register, Registers of Scotland has outlined other mechanisms to accelerate first registrations.

Three key proposals are:

The Sasine Register will be closed to standard securities with effect from around the end of 2015. At least six months' notice of the date of implementation will be given. The grant of a standard security will then require registration of the underlying title, by way of voluntary registration, but the VR fee will be waived and the only registration fee will be the current fee of £60 for registration of the standard security.
A 25% discount on voluntary registration fees for an initial period of two years.
Following the completion in June of a Keeper-induced registration (KIR) pilot of KIR on heritage assets and research areas, amongst others, there is to be a consultation on KIR in the summer.

For more information see the Report on the Consultation on Completion of the Land Register