Up and running at last | Law Society of Scotland

Find a Solicitor Sign in

Registers page: roundup of where to look for help with the 2012 Act; obtaining the new reports; Land Register completion consultation

15th December 2014 | Registers of Scotland

The collaboration continues

The Land Registration etc (Scotland) Act 2012 commenced on 8 December 2014.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) has been committed to working closely with solicitors and other stakeholders throughout the implementation of the Act, and we will continue to do so now that the Act is in effect.

Implementing the Act has been a huge task, both for RoS and our stakeholders, and we are particularly grateful to the Law Society of Scotland’s Property Law Committee for the time and effort they have committed to ensuring our guidance can best support the legal profession. Our dedicated 2012 Act website – ros.gov.uk/2012act – contains full guidance on the Act, and will be continually updated as we get feedback on live transactions. Make sure you keep up to date by signing up for email updates at ros.gov.uk/2012act/ezine.html

The changes to registration under the 2012 Act will be most apparent for new first registrations. The new mapping and other evidential requirements, allied to the one-shot rule, mean that the process of preparing an application for registration will differ from the approach under the 1979 Act. Less information will need to be submitted, and that which is will need to be compliant with the 2012 Act. The new electronic application form, our new range of pre-registration reports, and our handy checklists for different application types (visit ros.gov.uk/2012act/guidance_osr.html) are all designed to ease the registration process. Should there be an issue with an application or a delay to settlement, the new advance notice system will offer a period of protection for your client. We expect that most solicitor firms will be registered to use our new electronic form and advance notice system, but if you are not registered and wish to be, please contact our e-services support team on 0800 028 9296.

As well as our website, our customer service centres and e-services support team are on hand on help with any enquiries. Customer services can provide general 2012 Act guidance, and the e-services team can offer support with the online registration process, including using the new online forms.

Land Register completion consultation

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Land Register completion consultation, which closed last month. We had 48 responses from a wide variety of stakeholders and organisations across the country. The responses are now live on our website at ros.gov.uk, and the consultation report will be published in February 2015.