How to Map a Sporting or Shooting Lease

General

A particular type of lease that is occasionally submitted for registration in the land register is a sporting lease (also referred to as a shooting lease).

Unlike salmon fishings, sporting or shooting rights are not a type of separate legal tenement, and therefore cannot be held in separate ownership from the plot of land over which they are exercisable. They can, however, be leased by the owner of the plot of land to another party. Provided a lease of sporting rights is a long lease that meets the general requirements, it is registrable in the land register.

In a change from the legal position under the 1979 Act, when sporting leases were only registrable when the owner's title was already registered, under the 2012 Act a sporting lease can be submitted for registration whether the owner's title to the plot of land it registered or not. As with other leases, when the owner's title to the land is not registered, an application to register a sporting lease will trigger Automatic Plot Registration (APR).

Useful links

Sporting Rights - legal topic

Mapping Salmon Fishings

Automatic Plot Registration (APR) - plans guidance

Key points for plans settlers

The plans registration process for a sporting lease is very similar to that for the registration of a lease of an area of ground. The key points and differences are set out below:

The sporting lease title sheet will refer to the cadastral unit for the plot of land over which the sporting rights are being granted.
- If the plot of land is unregistered, the registration of a new sporting lease or the assignation/extension of an existing sporting lease will trigger Automatic Plot Registration (APR).
- If the plot of land is already registered, but in a 1979 Act style, the title sheet of the plot land must be updated to a 2012 Act style before the registration of the sporting lease can be completed.
If the sporting lease is being granted over the whole of the cadastral unit for the plot of land, it should be mapped following the guidelines in How to Map a Lease of Whole.
If the sporting lease is being granted over only part of the cadastral unit for the plot of land, it should be mapped following the guidelines in How to Map a Lease of Part.
The reference for the sporting lease should be referenced on the landlord's title in the same manner as a lease of whole or part of an area of ground.
In the lease title sheet, the reference for the extend of the lease will be classified as Lease.
In the landlord's (ownership) title sheet, any reference provided for the extent of the lease will be classified as Lease.
The real right field in the property section of the title sheet will be Tenancy - the fact that it is tenancy of the sporting rights is disclosed in the property description itself, not in this field.
The hectarage of the cadastral unit is not entered in the lease title sheet as it is only the tenant's interest in a lease that is being registered.
When entering the property description into the property section of a sporting lease title sheet, careful consideration should be given to the wording of the deed to ensure that it is clear that it is the sporting rights that are being registered. This wording of the deed should be carried forward to give a clear description of exactly which rights are included within the title. See Sample Property Section Styles - Leases for examples of property sections relating to sporting lease titles.

Sample Property Section Styles - Leases