Ten year land registration target will not penalise users, says RoS

Completing the Land Register within the 10 year target will not require fee increases to meet the costs, according to Registers of Scotland (RoS).

Publishing its summary of the responses to the consultation on the project, and its comments in reply, RoS states that while concerns have been expressed over the resource implications, it remains “confident that the RoS costs of completion of the Land Register can be absorbed through efficiencies in the registration process rather than requiring fee increases”.

In response to calls for additional public funding to be made available, RoS points out that it is implicit in the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012 that its operational costs will be “borne by the Keeper and therefore by those who pay fees to her”. While undertaking to keep its financial assumptions under review, it does not foresee the need for fee increases related to the project.

Noting the concerns of some public bodies about the cost and resource implications of meeting the five year target for voluntary registration of all publicly owned land, RoS promises to work with these bodies to ensure that the process is as efficient as possible, especially where they already have their own digitised, map-based asset registers.

Respondents expressed differing views over whether the 10 year timescale was too short, but it does not appear that it will be revised. RoS is however taking on board suggestions to pilot Keeper-induced registration across a wider range of titles, and to involve proprietors and solicitors with a particular interest. The pilot will still be completed by the end of June, and will be followed by a further consultation.

As for the future of the Register of Sasines, there was strong support for closing the register to standard securities, and ministers therefore intend to make an order accordingly. It will probably take effect from late 2015, but at least six months' notice will be given, to allow lenders and solicitors time to plan ahead. This will account for about 5% of the titles still on the sasine register. The fee for voluntary registration of the land will be waived where the purpose of the registration is to enable the grant of a standard security (which will incur a fee).

While closure of the sasine register to other types of deeds has been considered, it is not being progressed at present as it would result in “a piecemeal approach to increasing coverage that would cut across the Keeper's intention to promote voluntary registration of the whole of a proprietor's land and to undertake a structured programme of Keeper-induced registration”. However RoS will return to this issue and consult further.

Voluntary registration will be encouraged by ending the Keeper's discretion to refuse such registration, and by an order, coming into force by this summer, reducing the fee by 25% for an initial period of two years.

Click here to view the summary document.