| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Account |
It is free to submit to and free to search on RCI. To create or update entries in RCI, an account is required. There are two types of account that can be used: 1.RCI public account – this for members of the public who are submitting to RCI as a recorded person 2.Online Services account with RCI permissions – this is for those who are submitting on behalf of clients or whose organisation structure means they will be submitting on behalf of a significant number of recorded persons. You do not need an RCI account to search the register. |
| Associate | An associate can be an individual or a non-natural person (e.g. company) who has controlling influence over one or more properties owned or leased by the recorded person. |
| Associate Notification Form | Once a submission has been made to RCI, the service generates a notification form for the associate(s) named in the submission. The recorded person can download the form(s) by accessing their RCI service dashboard |
| Charity |
Charities can be of different sizes and wide-ranging purposes, including community groups, religious charities, schools, universities and care providers. Charity trustees are the people who have general control and management of a charity. Charity trustee duties are at the centre of running a charity. A charity that owns or leases land in Scotland, may be in scope of RCI. Charities that are SCIO’s or CIO’s fall within a Schedule 2 transparency regime and are out of scope of having to register in the RCI. |
| Control | A reference to where a person can direct the activities of another. |
| Controlling Interest | People with a controlling interest can influence the decisions made about the land in relation to the disposal, leasing or changing the use of land. |
| Dealings with the land | A reference to disposing, creating real rights over, leasing or changing the use of the land. |
| Duties | The RCI regulations place a number of duties on recorded persons, associates and the Keeper. |
| Entry | Each RCI entry is about one recorded person and must have at least one associate. |
| Explanatory Document | A document prepared by the Scottish Government in order to assist the reader of the Regulations. It should be read in conjunction with the Regulations. |
| Keeper | The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. |
| Land |
In relation to a recorded person, means the land described in an entry in the RCI as being owned or leased by that person. Land includes: (a) buildings and other structures, (b) the seabed of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland (including land within the ebb and flow of the tide at ordinary spring tides), and (c) other land covered with water. |
| Land Register | A public register of rights in land in Scotland (known as the Land Register of Scotland). This was established by the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979, and continued by the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012. |
| Lands Tribunal for Scotland | A tribunal established by statute with power inter alia in disputes relating to title conditions and the hearing of appeals against decisions taken by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland in relation to the registration of title to land. The Lands Tribunal has a specific role to play in RCI by hearing and determining certain appeals and referrals. |
| Lease | A contract of lease is one whereby the use of heritable subjects is given to a tenant in return for the annual payment of a rent. The tenant has the use of the property subject to the conditions laid down by the granter of the lease (known as the landlord). The lease is subject to an annual payment and is only for a definite number of years, after which the subjects revert to the landlord.In RCI for a tenant to be a recorded person they must be a tenant of a lease of more than 20 years registered in the Land register or recorded in the Registers of Sasine (known as a long lease).Lease includes sub-lease. |
| Liferent | A right or title in land for the period of a person’s life. |
| Long lease |
A contract whereby a landlord grants exclusive possession of all or part of his heritable property to a tenant for a definite period of time usually in return for a rent. The period of time must exceed 20 years or the lease must contain renewal provisions so that the total duration would extend for
more than 20 years. In RCI for a tenant to be a recorded person they must be a tenant of a lease of more than 20 years registered in the Land register or recorded in the Registers of Sasine (known as a long lease). |
| Offence | It is an offence not to comply with a number of the duties imposed by the RCI Regulations. Where such duties are not complied with it is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine. During the transitional period beginning on 1 April 2022 and ending on 1 April 2024 the offence provisions do not have effect. |
| Online Services | Registers of Scotland’s online services provide a variety of services for registered business or other organisations and includes access for them to create entries in RCI. |
| Online Support Tool | Our online support tool will help provide you with an indication as to whether or not you are in scope of RCI as a recorded person. |
| Overseas entity | Overseas entities which own or lease land in Scotland will be recorded as the legal owner of the land or tenant of a lease and their name and registered address will be recorded in the Land Register or Sasine register. For the purposes of RCI, an overseas entity means a body corporate, partnership or an unincorporated body that is a legal person under the law by which it is governed, other than a person listed in the schedule 2 transparency regimes, which is incorporated or constituted under, and governed by, a law other than the law of the United Kingdom. |
| Owner | A person who is entered in the Land Register as the proprietor of the land, or whose title to the land is recorded in the Register of Sasines. |
| Partnership |
The term partnership covers the situation where two or more persons agree to conduct a business on the basis of dividing the profits and sharing the losses between them. There is no specified maximum number of partners Partnership is defined as, “the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit”. Person includes every person recognised as a person in law, so a partnership could be formed between a natural person and a limited company. Therefore a partner in a partnership doesn't have to be an individual acting as a partner, it can be a company acting as a partner. Business includes every trade, occupation or profession. A business carried on by one person alone, though in a name indicating a firm, is not a partnership, though it is probably included under the term “firm”. Apart from that, in most respects the words “firm” and “partnership” are interchangeable. |
| Persons/natural persons/non-natural persons |
The term “person” can be used to cover every human being and every form of organisation or entity. To help clarify, the legal terms of “natural person” and “non-natural person” are used to differentiate between a human being, being a natural person, (i.e. an actual person acting in their own right)
and every type of organisation or entity which are described as a “non-natural person”. There are almost endless examples of non-natural persons but this will include companies and Local Authority’s. For our purposes it will also include trusts, partnerships, charities, unincorporated organisations and overseas companies or other entities. |
| Power of Attorney | A deed conferring authority, granted by one person to another (called the 'attorney' or 'factor') to act on their behalf for the purposes specified therein. |
| Pre-submission associate verification notice |
Verifying an associate's details before making a submission is required as part of the RCI regulations. The recorded person can do this using any method they choose. To help do this, we have created an optional form. The form will allow the recorded person to add the associate's details and verify their accuracy with the associate. |
| Property Registers | The Land Register and the Registers of Sasines. |
| Proprietor | A person who has a valid completed title as proprietor to a plot of land. |
| Published entry | An entry which is visible within a public search within RCI - i.e. an entry that has been submitted over 30 days prior. |
| Recorded Person |
Recorded person is the registered owner or tenant of land or property whose decisions are influenced or controlled by an associate. A recorded person can be an individual or a non-natural person (e.g. overseas entity). |
| Recorded Person Reference Number (RPRN) | A unique reference number allocated to each recorded person when they are first entered onto the register as a recorded person. |
| Register / RCI | The Register of Persons holding a controlled interest in land (which register is referred to as “the RCI”). |
| Registered Number | Any unique number allocated to a non-natural person for the purposes of identifying them. |
| Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) |
Overseas entities who want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK, must register with Companies House and tell them who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are. The Register of Overseas Entities came into force in the UK on 1 August 2022 through the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. |
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