Chamber and committees

Scotland has two property registers, the General Register of Sasines, a register of deeds which is being superseded by the Land Register of Scotland, a register of title. There are some 2.6 million properties held between the two registers of which some 1.2 million are registered in, or the subject of applications to, the Land Register as at February 2005. This equates to approximately 46% of all properties that could potentially be registered in the Land Register.

The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland is responsible for the administration of the two property registers in Scotland. These registers are the General Register of Sasines, a register of deeds, which is gradually being superseded by the Land Register, a register of title. The Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 introduced the system of land registration in Scotland. The act envisaged the progressive introduction of the Land Register over Scotland on an area-by-area basis. This was completed in 2003, and the whole of Scotland is now operational for the purposes of land registration.

Transactions that induce first registration in the Land Register are set out in the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979. Generally, only a transfer of property for valuable consideration (i.e. a price) will induce the first registration of a property in the Land Register. Thus any property transfer involving deeds recorded in the General Register of Sasines that does not attract a price will remain on that register.

There is no set timescale for every property in Scotland to be held on the Land Register. Over time, as more properties held on the Register of Sasines are sold, the stock of properties in Scotland held on the Land Register will increase. The percentage of properties in the Land Register is presently rising by around 3% a year.

The Land Register is made up of title sheets for each individual property registered and is held electronically.

Information from the Land Register is already available online. In 2001 Registers of Scotland introduced a service known as Registers Direct. This service provides information from the Land Register, and certain other registers, on the internet.

Subject to passage of the necessary subordinate legislation, Registers of Scotland plans to begin the roll-out of electronic registration – known as Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL) – from November 2006. This system will permit straightforward land registration transactions to be undertaken online.

The Partnership Agreement makes it clear that both parties are committed to constructive dialogue between ministers and backbenchers to build a strong partnership. Regular meetings take place between Deputy Ministers and other ministers as appropriate, and backbench members of both parties.

Registers of Scotland collates information on the average cost of processing each of the different types of application in the Land Register, and an average cost for all deeds that are recorded in the General Register of Sasines. There are three different types of application that may be made to the Land Register. These are:

First registrations of previously unregistered property;

Transfers of part of property registered in the Land Register (such as subdivision of that property by a sale), and

Dealings with Whole, which are transactions affecting the whole of registered property.

The average costs for each of these types of application is set out in the following table:

Application	Average cost
First Registration (Land Register)	£321.23
Dealing (Land Register)	£50.41
Transfer of Part (Land Register)	£246.07
Sasine Register	£27.03

Applications for the registration of mortgage transactions (including re-mortgages) in the Land Register are classed as Dealings and included within that average cost.

Table 1 lists all public authority dwellings sold under the Rent to Mortgage scheme from 1990 to 2004, by local authority area. The scheme was first introduced on a pilot basis by Scottish Homes in October 1989 but there were no sales recorded until 1990. Housing association dwellings are not included in the table (see note 2).

Table 1: Sales of Public Authority Dwellings, Under the Rent to Mortgage Scheme, by Local Authority Area, 1990 to 2004

Local Authority Area	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Aberdeen City	0	5	18	76	19	48	43	27	15	19	16	15	7	4	0
Aberdeenshire	0	1	11	24	10	18	10	6	6	8	4	4	2	0	0
Angus	0	1	7	1	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	2	2	9	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	6	9	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	20	0	18	7	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dundee City	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	3	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	5	1	7	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Lothian	0	7	26	2	4	8	6	3	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
East Renfrewshire	9	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
City of Edinburgh	0	4	3	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	4	8	9	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	12	18	46	5	4	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
City of Glasgow	14	2	13	6	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Highland	51	3	18	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	1	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	5	14	3	3	3	1	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	0
Moray	0	0	16	2	1	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	4	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	21	18	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	11	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	0	4	35	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	6	2	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	0	5	17	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	7	17	19	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Stirling	6	2	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	1	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Lothian	1	7	19	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	133	126	390	199	60	91	65	42	24	27	24	21	9	5	0

Notes:

1. The figures include public authority dwellings only (Local Authority, New Town Development Corporations and Scottish Homes dwellings).

2. Due to the nature of the housing association data collection, it is not possible to separate Rent to Mortgage sales from Right to Buy sales for housing associations (and the latter will form the majority of the sales).

2. Figures from 1990 to 1996 have been transferred from the former local authority areas to the 32 current areas.

The date of registration in respect of a property is the date upon which Registers of Scotland receives the application for registration. The logging of an application on receipt secures the applicant’s interest in the property. Once an application has been received, no other party can lodge an application in respect of that property that would take precedence over the original application. This means that if the registration takes longer than usual, for example if the application is particularly complex, there is no legal disadvantage to the security of the applicant's title.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Guidance on the preparation of local housing strategies produced for local authorities states that registered social landlords, as housing developers and providers, should be key partners in the local housing strategy process.

A local housing strategy should set out a clear investment framework for registered social landlords and for other partners and providers that would allow them to prioritise and target their actions and resources in support of their local housing strategy.

Where the local authority intends to introduce a Development Plan policy seeking to support the delivery of affordable housing, it should have regard to the local housing strategy and the local authority should work closely with registered social landlords, developers and other providers to ensure there is a common and shared understanding of the policy and its implications.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:

All 32 local authorities have submitted a local housing strategy to Communities Scotland for assessment. All have been assessed and Communities Scotland has provided feedback to each local authority.

Scottish ministers set an annual target for Registers of Scotland in respect of the accuracy of land certificates that are issued when an application for registration is complete.

The target for the current financial year, 2004-05, requires the Land Register to achieve a registration accuracy rate of at least 98% for land certificates despatched during the previous 12 months. In the 12 months up to 31 December 2004, the Land Register achieved an accuracy rate of 98.60%. 321,918 land certificates were issued from the Land Register during that period, of which 4,503 have required subsequent amendment.

Though most are minor and readily remedied, the occurrence of inaccuracies in land certificates is a matter that the Keeper of the Registers and his staff treat very seriously. In order to deliver and maintain improvements in accuracy, a number of measures have been put in place, including the creation of a Data and Information Unit and a Quality Steering Group in Registers of Scotland.

Where a Land Certificate contains an inaccuracy, a party affected may apply to the Keeper to have this rectified in the register. The Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 provides for the payment of indemnity to those who have suffered loss as a result of such inaccuracies. Last year, payments were necessary in less than 0.05% of applications.