Conference to explore land database for Scotland

How Scotland might benefit from the creation of a one-stop digital land and property information database covering the country will be the subject of a conference to take place in Edinburgh in March.

Senior lawyers will join Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland Sheenagh Adams and other experts to discuss how to deliver a genuinely world-class system. Particular focus will be given to the system developed in Norway, where a database has been created through which all information needed to carry out a land and property transaction can be accessed digitally, most of it within a few minutes.

The Norwegian land registry was first digitised in the 1980s, which was followed by the development of land-related information systems for the property market, leading in turn to further digitisation of property conveyancing. Integrated e-conveyancing between banks, customers and property professionals, reduces the typical transaction period from two or three weeks to a matter of hours. 

The Scottish Government has made clear it is determined to learn from other jurisdictions as it aims to deliver a complete digital land register by 2024, with a one-stop digital land and property database as the ultimate goal.

Legal speakers at the conference include Ross MacKay, convener of the Law Society of Scotland's Property Law Committee, Professor Stewart Brymer of Brymer Legal and Paul Carnan of Blaney Carnan.

Professor Brymer will argue that a one-stop digital database is achievable in Scotland. He said: "The Norwegian model, Infoland, has generated global interest as a viable, easily transferable system. It creates a community of interest because suppliers of information – such as councils, the land registry and the mapping authority – are paid to provide accurate, timely information. Those who want the information can get it quickly and cheaply, and the whole system operates in a quick, efficient manner to the benefit of the economy.

The conference takes place on Tuesday 10 March at the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh. Click here for further information.