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Registers of Scotland (RoS) is responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to land and property and other legal documents. Their main aim is to record and safeguard rights whilst providing open and efficient access to important information.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) is responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to land and property and other legal documents. Their main aim is to record and safeguard rights whilst providing open and efficient access to important information.

This land registration system in Scotland is, however, experiencing its biggest overhaul since the introduction of the Land Register almost 35 years ago. On 8th December 2014 the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 came into force, changing the system for those with an interest in property in Scotland, and bringing the Scottish system much more aligned with the English equivalent.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) is the Government Department responsible for compiling and maintaining registers relating to land and property and other legal documents in Scotland. RoS records and safeguards the rights of the individual whilst providing open access to information on the registers. They hold 17 registers – the largest are the two property registers (General Register of Sasines and the Land Register). The smaller registers are grouped under the collective name of the Chancery and Judicial Registers.

They have Customer Service Centres, located in Edinburgh and Glasgow, offering a one-stop-shop for the general public and professional customers.

The current system of registration in Scotland relies on a complex series of protocols combining ‘property’ law, ‘registration’ law and solicitors’ insurance. The new system is designed to realign these sometimes opposing angles, improve transparency and efficiency, and above all facilitate the stated aim of the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (the “Keeper”) to register the whole of Scotland within the next ten years.

The primary purpose of the 2012 Act is to reform and restate the law on the registration of rights to land in the Land Register of Scotland. The 2012 Act achieves this by repealing much of the current land registration statute, the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 (the 1979 Act). The Land Registration (Scotland) Rules 2006 (the 2006 Rules) made under that Act, and puts in place a new scheme of land registration.

The 2012 Act realigns the law of land registration with property law. It also puts on a statutory footing many of the policies and practices the Keeper has developed since the introduction of the land register in 1981. New concepts will be introduced, such as advance notices, and new rules that will govern how the Keeper registers deeds and makes up the register. As a result, the Keeper has conducted a review of existing land register policies and practices to ensure that they are compliant with the new law and identified some new policies and practices that had to be put into place.

There are additional triggers for registration. Amongst others, all transfers of property not yet registered in the Land Register – whether for value or not – will trigger first registration.

The cadastral map is the foundation of the new system of registration, and is effectively one large map, based on the Ordnance Survey map, covering the whole of Scotland. Each registered property will be a “cadastral unit” and be allocated a “cadastral number”.

Similar to the English system of priority searches, Advance Notices will protect deeds for a period of 35 days, meaning that the deed to which the Advance Notice refers will take priority over any other deed submitted during that time.

The new rules commenced 8 December 2014.

A link can be found within the Additional Resources section below.