Notifications

Acceptance and rejection

Acceptance in the context of the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 ("the 2012 Act") means acceptance onto the register rather than into the application record. Therefore, acceptance occurs when registration is complete.

Rejection in the context of the 2012 Act can occur at any stage in the registration process. There is no longer a distinction between a rejection upon receipt of an application and a "cancellation" at a later stage in the process. Both will be rejections for the purposes of the 2012 Act.

In terms of section 40(1), the Keeper must notify both the applicant and the granter of each deed that is submitted for registration or, as will be the case for the majority of applications, their respective agents. Section 40(1)(c) relates to applications received under the prescriptive claimant provisions. In those cases, the notification of acceptance or rejection must be made to those parties already notified of receipt of the application under section 45(1).

Although in practical terms, a disposition, standard security and discharge may be treated as one "application", in the 2012 Act terminology, each deed being registered constitutes a separate application. This means that in the example just given, the respective applicants and granters of the disposition, the security, and the discharge must each be notified by the Keeper once that deed is registered or rejected.

Section 40(4) permits notification to be by such means as the Keeper considers appropriate, and for notification of acceptance and rejection, this will be by electronic means only.

Email addresses for the applicant and the granter, or as the case may be their respective agents, should be provided on the application form for notification purposes. There is a specific section of the application form for this purpose. If no email address is given this will not result in rejection of the application but will mean that no notifications will be sent. In terms of section 40(6), a failure to notify does not affect the competence or validity of the acceptance, rejection or withdrawal in question.

When an application is accepted or rejected the RoS notifications handler system will automatically generate the notification, and will send it overnight via email. The email will contain a link to a web page or "landing page", which will contain details of the application to which the notification relates.

However, the Keeper appreciates that those submitting applications for registration will want to check the resultant title sheet to ensure that their application has been given effect to correctly. Therefore, although it is not a requirement under the 2012 Act, where an application is accepted, the landing page will contain a PDF version of the updated title sheet with the relevant part of the cadastral map. The PDF will be a snapshot of the title position as at that date, and, although it does not have the evidential status of an extract requested under section 104, it fully reflects the title sheet after completion of the application to which the notification relates.

Where an application for registration is rejected, the notification email will contain a link to the landing page where a PDF version of the rejection letter will be available. The rejection letter will set out the reason for rejection, which will be tied to the relevant condition or conditions of the 2012 Act that the application failed to meet.

Both the applicant and the granter will receive the same notification of acceptance or rejection, and both parties will be able to access the respective PDF. The parties notified will be free to forward on the link to the landing page as they see fit and it will be possible to print or to save the PDFs locally to their own systems. The link to the landing page will be available for a 50-day period, which should allow the parties adequate time to access it following the acceptance or rejection.

Withdrawal

Section 34(1)(a) sets out that while an application for registration is pending, it may be withdrawn by the applicant. The Keeper will then return the application to the applicant and must, in terms of section 40(2), notify the granter of the deed that the application has been withdrawn.

Notifications of withdrawal will also be by electronic means only, and will be issued through the same notification handler system as accepted or rejected applications. Although section 40(2) does not expressly require notification to be sent to the applicant, presumably because the request to withdraw has come from them, the Keeper will issue the electronic notification to both parties. As with the landing page for a rejected application, the landing page for a withdrawn application will contain a PDF version of the letter confirming withdrawal.

Proprietor

Section 41 applies where automatic plot registration has taken place under section 25 or where KIR has taken place under section 29. In such cases, the Keeper must notify the proprietor of the plot of land that it has been registered.

APR is triggered where certain deeds listed under section 24 are submitted for registration over an unregistered plot. The main examples are a grant of lease or sublease and, an assignation of an unregistered lease. An application to register any of these deeds will trigger automatic registration of the landlord's underlying plot to the extent of the subjects of the leasehold deed submitted. The person submitting the deed for registration must provide the Keeper with all the deeds and information required to register the underlying plot of land. When accepting the deed for registration, the Keeper will create two title sheets, one for the lease and one for the plot of land.

In terms of section 40, the Keeper must notify the applicant and the granter in respect of the acceptance of the lease, assignation or sublease. However, section 41 also requires the Keeper to notify the proprietor of the plot that was automatically registered.

In many cases where notification is required under section 41, it will not be possible for the Keeper to notify electronically. Where, for example, registration is triggered by a grant of lease, the landlords will be party to the transaction, and they could provide an email address for notification purposes. However, where the deed triggering APR is an assignation of lease or a sublease, the landlord may not have direct involvement in the current transaction, and it may not be possible for the assignee or subtenant to provide an email address for the landlord.

Therefore, in situations where no email address is available for notification under section 41, the Keeper will notify the proprietor by post to the last known address as disclosed in the deeds.

As noted previously there is no duty on the Keeper to provide a view of the title sheet as part of any notification made under the 2012 Act. However, where APR is triggered, and where an email address for the proprietor of the plot is provided, the Keeper will include a PDF version of the plot title sheet as part of the proprietor's electronic notification. Where an email address is not provided, and the notification is made by post, a copy of the plot title sheet will not be included.

In terms of section 41(2)(b), the Keeper can notify any other person she considers appropriate. The applicant submitting the lease, assignation of lease or sublease will receive electronic notification that their deed has been accepted (provided an email address is given), and a PDF version of the lease title sheet, under section 40(1). However, since the applicant is the person providing the deeds and information required to register the underlying plot, the Keeper will also notify them of the plot registration under section 41(2)(b). This notification will only be sent if the applicant's email address has been provided, and it will contain a PDF version of the plot title sheet.

KIR takes place where the Keeper decides to register a plot of land or part of a plot of land other than on application and without having to seek the proprietor's consent. Where a plot is registered by virtue of KIR there will be no application and consequently no notification details or email addresses will be available for the purposes of an email notification. The Keeper will publish further guidance on notification under section 41(1)(b) in due course.

Prescriptive applications

The Keeper is under a duty to notify certain persons when a prescriptive claimant application is received in terms of section 45(1). The prescriptive claimant provisions at sections 43 to 45 apply where a person wishes to register a disposition which but for these sections would fall to be rejected as invalid (commonly called a Disposition a non domino). In order for the Keeper to treat the disposition as valid for the purposes of acceptance, the applicant must first fulfil certain notification requirements.

View separate guidance on prescriptive claimants.

The applicant must satisfy the Keeper that they have notified the proprietor of the land in question, whom failing a person who is able to complete title as proprietor, whom failing the Crown. If the Keeper is satisfied, she will send her own notification under section 45(1). Since the application can only proceed where the Keeper is satisfied that appropriate notification by the applicant has been made, she will notify the person or persons already identified by the applicant. The Keeper's notification serves to inform that person that the prescriptive claimant application has now been received, and to give them the opportunity to object formally.

Where the Keeper is notifying the proprietor or a person who is able to complete title, she will notify to the same address as that used by the applicant for their notification. It is unlikely that an email address will be available in these circumstances since the name and address identified are likely to be taken from historical records.

Where the Keeper is notifying the Crown, whether the Crown Estate Commissioners or the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, a standard form of notification will be used.

Rectification of the register

In terms of section 80(4)(b), where the Keeper rectifies an inaccuracy in the register, she must give notice of the rectification to any person who appears to her to be materially affected by it.

The Keeper must rectify where she becomes aware of a manifest inaccuracy in a title sheet and if what is needed to rectify is also manifest. There are a variety of ways in which the Keeper may become aware of an inaccuracy, and rectification of the register could therefore take place in a variety of circumstances.

For this reason, there is no fixed list of the persons who the Keeper will consider to be materially affected by a rectification for notification purposes. Instead, the Keeper will use the discretion afforded to her under section 80(4)(b) to decide who should be notified in each given case. Depending on the circumstances, the persons to be notified may include a heritable creditor, a neighbouring proprietor, the benefited proprietor in respect of a servitude, a registered tenant, and, of course, the proprietor of the rectified title sheet.

The appropriate method of notification will also vary depending on the nature of the rectification and who is being notified. The Keeper will retain discretion in this regard also; however, in general terms the notification will be by letter, sent either electronically or by post depending on the circumstances.

Whilst the Keeper intends to notify electronically wherever possible, email addresses will not always be available depending on the nature of the rectification. In cases where registered proprietors have requested rectification of their own title sheet, they may provide an email address, and an electronic notification could be sent. There is a section on the optional Notification of an Inaccuracy form in which an email address can be entered for notification purposes.

However, a person may request rectification of a neighbouring title sheet, or the Keeper may discover an inaccuracy in one title sheet in the course of registering another. In such cases an email address for the registered proprietor may not be available. In those circumstances, the Keeper will give notice by post to the last known address of the person to be notified.

There is no fee for rectification of the register post-designated day.

View separate guidance on inaccuracy and rectification.

Entry in the application record

In relation to regulations 5 and 11 of the Land Register Rules etc. (Scotland) Regulations 2014 ("the Rules") the Keeper is under a duty to notify when entries are made in the application record. Regulation 5 sets out that the Keeper must notify the applicant or applicant's agent that an advance notice has been entered in the application record. Regulation 11 sets out that when an application for registration is entered in the application record, the Keeper must acknowledge receipt of that application.

Acknowledgements under regulation 11 will be made by email, provided an email address has been entered in the respective application form. No acknowledgement will be sent if email addresses are not provided on the application form. Where email addresses are provided, the acknowledgement will be sent to both applicant and granter.

Notifications under regulation 5 will also be by email where addresses are provided. In cases where an application to enter an advance notice is made using the paper form (see regulation 3), the notification will be sent electronically where an email address is provided, if not the applicant will be notified when the paper application is returned to them.

Regulation 5(3) contains details of the information that will be included in the notification of acceptance of an advance notice. The notification will contain the:

1. granter's name and designation
2. grantee's name and designation
3. application number
4. advance notice number
5. type of intended deed
6. particulars of the plot of land or subjects of lease
7. PDF file of the delineation on the cadastral map (where applicable)
8. date when the advance notice was entered on the application record

Regulation 11(2) sets out the information to be included in an acknowledgement of an application for registration. The acknowledgement will contain the:

1. type of deed
2. names of the parties
3. date of application (the date an entry is made for the application in the application record)
4. application number
5. title number or provisional title number
6. particulars of the plot of land or the subjects of lease

The acknowledgement under regulation 11 will be available to view via a link to a landing page, the same landing page that will be used for subsequent notifications of acceptance or rejection. The persons receiving the emailed link can forward this on as they see fit, and the acknowledgement can be saved locally to their own systems. The link will be accessible for 50 days.

Other communications from the Keeper

The Keeper will continue to communicate in writing in other circumstances, as and when required. Where there is no express provision for a formal notification in either the Act or the Rules, this does not preclude the Keeper from responding to other requests and applications.

For example, where an application is received to place a caveat on a title sheet or to vary the warranty originally given to an applicant, the Keeper will confirm the position in writing. Likewise, the Keeper may receive requests to remove the provisional marking from a title sheet, or to approve a development layout plan, and there may be instances where it is appropriate for the Keeper to request additional information or evidence from an applicant in relation to a pending application.

In these and other cases, the Keeper will correspond in writing either by email (where possible) or by post.