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Section 27(1) requires the applicant to be the “owner”. The RoS position from inception of the 2012 Act until 21 January 2022 was that “owner” included a person who held title by virtue of a valid midcouple (an unregistrable conveyance) who could then therefore use a VR to complete title. However, following academic comment, RoS will now only accept VR’s from applicants with a completed title (including those, such as public bodies, . Public bodies who do not have a registered recorded title, but have title vested in them by a statutory link in title)title should be considered as having a completed title. Applicants with uncompleted titles should register their title using a Notice of Title. Any queries in relation to this change of approach should be directed to Policy Unit.
For the avoidance of doubt, settlers should not examine links in title – where a VR is submitted by a public body who is not the last recorded proprietor, it should be assumed by virtue of the agent’s certification that a statutory link vesting title in them exists and the application should be accepted.
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