Services For Solicitors
Whose Land Scotland can assist solicitors to find title deeds, resolve boundary issues, map title boundaries, complete Land Registration applications and more besides. We have over 20 years of experience of land law, conveyancing and title registration, with particularly extensive experience of voluntary title registrations.
We can help you out on an “as you need it” basis, providing assistance when you encounter a particularly complex challenge. This allows you to focus on serving the needs of your clients while we work behind the scenes.
What Challenges Are Solicitors Facing?
On 25 May 2014 Scottish Ministers asked the Keeper of the Land Register of Scotland to complete the Register within 10 years, by 2024. Any solicitor dealing with property transactions for clients with land or buildings in Scotland will be aware of the new legislation, procedures, forms and practices introduced by the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012.
In December 2017, Registers of Scotland estimated Land Register coverage at just 30% of the land area of Scotland. This despite the Scottish land registration system having been introduced in 1981! So by 2024, the Scottish Government would like 70% of the land mass of Scotland to have undergone first registration.
This poses great challenges to a legal profession expected to sign off those first registration applications and deal with issues such as deed plan adequacy, boundary discrepancies, and Keeper Induced Registrations – not to mention the current registrations backlog! As part of the legal profession ourselves, we understand these challenges – and the commercial pressures they bring.
Difficult Cases
Of course many properties are held on titles which will not be difficult to register, but here a few of the difficulties you may face:
- Deed plan quality is poor or non-existent/lost
- Estate titles disclose many historic sales and it is not clear what your client still owns
- Boundaries are unclear, overlap with other properties or disclose potential “holes” or ransom strips
- It is difficult to get a coherent picture of current ownership
Contact us today if you are facing complex challenges regarding land title deeds, resolving boundary issues, mapping titles, completing Land Registration applications and many more related areas.
We are happy to have a free no-commitment discussion about the challenges you are facing and how we can help.