As Scotland’s Land Register begins to replenish and charges enhance, is now the time to think about Voluntary Registration of your properties?

Calum Allmond is head of architectural and vitality providers at DM Corridor Chartered Surveyors

The readability and concision of the map-based registration system might deliver advantages to residence and land house owners.

Since passage of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act in 1979 the Land Register of Scotland has been steadily changing the previous Normal Register of Sasines which, having been established in 1617 – the 12 months James, VI and I, made his first go to since turning into King of England – is the oldest public register of property pursuits on the planet.

The brand new Register strikes property titles from the upkeep and inspection of dusty deeds to a brand new, map-based system which plots the extent of every title on a digital map based mostly on essentially the most up-to-date Ordnance Survey plans.

Whereas most titles which transfer to the brand new Register achieve this on the sale of the underlying property, Registers of Scotland (RoS) additionally presents voluntary Registration as a way to expedite the completion of the Register, which stays far behind its unique goal date of final 12 months.

With adjustments to the Registers’ Plans Stories service which got here into pressure final month (August 2025), now might be a prudent time for owners, landowners and housing inventory portfolio house owners to think about whether or not Voluntary Registration could possibly be of their longer-term pursuits.

Plans Stories establish points previous to registration and assist to cut back the chance of software rejection. They supply sellers, lenders and purchasers extra assurance concerning property transactions.

The adjustments impose a brand new payment construction which is able to imply a rise in Stage 1 and Stage 3 Plans Stories prices and the elimination of Stage 2 Plans Stories. The fundamental stage payment will rise from £65 to £110 plus VAT, and the usual stage from £95 to £160 plus VAT. Commonplace processing instances will change to inside three working days.

The Registers have been working on the identical time in the direction of the introduction of a identical day fast-track service for purchasers who want their report urgently, however this has been pushed again till later within the 12 months.

Aside from prices, what are the possible advantages of Voluntary Registration? The primary and most evident is readability and certainty. It makes it simpler to establish the boundaries of a property and doubtlessly settle any disputes with neighbouring proprietors.

Registration additionally protects a property proprietor’s rights, in that after an software has been accepted, it offers an assurance that the title to which it applies is an correct illustration of their rights and possession.

Of explicit significance is property which is leased since a tenant could also be beneath a misapprehension as to the extent of the property in the event that they register the property earlier than the precise landowner.

This places title holders in a really safe place and offers a component of safety from challenges from third events because the evidential bar to problem a registered title is taken into account very excessive.

The method actually simplifies future transactions, since all of the related details about a property is all grouped in a single simply accessible place. Older deeds have been usually obscure and limits might not have been precisely outlined.

Though the Land Register stays removed from accomplished, it’s filling up quick and the work concerned in titles is turning into extra weighted in the direction of correction of registered titles, for example, when an proprietor discovers that another person has already registered a part of their backyard.

For holders of portfolios of properties, Voluntary Registration generally is a useful addition to the vary of instruments wanted to handle inventory and might spotlight potential future points. Property planning additionally advantages from the readability that registration offers.

And on massive areas of land, equivalent to nation estates or bigger farms, it could possibly be very useful to have all the required info at your fingertips if a developer reveals an curiosity in buying a part of your holdings.

Registration in such instances may also pin down rights pertaining to adjoining properties, equivalent to entry, water provide and utility supply, a few of which could be acquired by their uninterrupted and undisputed use over an prolonged time period.

As with all such advanced issues, the primary and most necessary step is to hunt knowledgeable recommendation and steerage, and DM Corridor’s specialist departments and property professionals stand prepared to assist.