Monochrome Deed Plans

General

The basic requirement for a deed plan submitted for registration is that extent of the subjects must be identifiable and able to be plotted onto the cadastral map. The Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 states at Section 23:

23 (1) (c) the deed so describes the plot as to enable the Keeper to delineate its boundaries on the cadastral map.

While a large percentage of applications are presented with new plans, or copies of the recorded deeds with colour plans, there will be instances where only a monochrome copy of a recorded deed plan is submitted. Customers are advised to use a reports service to identify any issues with the extent deeds prior to the application being submitted.

The content of this page should be read in conjunction with Further Guidance page Deed Plan Must Be Acceptable.

Useful Links

Deed Plan Must Be Acceptable

Plans References for Servitudes, Burdens and Non-ownership Rights

Location Plans

Partial References

Not always a rejection - An application submitted with the extent defined on a monochrome plan does not automatically mean that the subjects cannot be identified and plotted onto the cadastral map

Key points to consider

Each application needs to be considered on its own merits, and as with any other extent plan, the usual considerations should be carried out by plans officers, including;

Is there a full bounding description in support of the deed plan that can be used to identify and verify the boundaries shown on the monochrome plan?

Are the subjects being registered fully bounded by registered titles, in which case a reasonable assumption, after due consideration and investigation, could be that the subjects adjoin those titles?

Does the deed narrate other references in addition to the extent of the subjects, e.g. common areas, access routes? Can they be identified on the deed plan? If not, does it appear from examining registered titles that those references are shown in other registered titles? Is there any doubt or risk in the Keeper accepting those references from previous registrations?

If the monochrome plan submitted with the application is a poor-quality copy of the original plan, check the Deed Search to see if a better copy exists.

If a monochrome plan is submitted with the application, but a COF exists for a Plans Report based on the same deed, remember to check Reports Builder to see if a colour copy of the plan was submitted for the report.

One other point to remember, if registering a former council house disponed by Argyll and Bute Council, colour copies of these are held on archive in the LSVT folder.

Scenarios

Below are some examples of monochrome plans to illustrate what are acceptable and not acceptable with a brief explanation. When examining the plan submitted with an application, if you are unsure whether it is acceptable or not, please liaise with referral officers.

Deed plan	Comments
	This deed plan would be acceptable for registration. There are boundary dimensions shown for each boundary with sufficient surrounding detail from which to tie the features to the Ordnance Survey (OS) Map.
	This deed plan may be acceptable for registration. Although there are no features shown on the deed plan apart from the building and road, if the subjects can be georeferenced in relation to those features and the boundaries scaled in relation to dimensions shown on the deed plan, then it could be acceptable. This is an example where a degree of investigation and consideration is required.
	This deed plan would not be acceptable for registration. Although there is nothing wrong with it being a monochrome plan, the deed plan is too small a scale and the boundaries not sufficiently defined to be accurately plotted.
	This deed plan would be acceptable for registration as the boundaries of the subjects can clearly be identified. Normal plans settle investigation to check if the boundaries shown on the historic county series map are defined and agree with those shown on the latest OS Map.
	This deed plan would not be acceptable for registration. The problem is not the plan itself, or that it is reversed monochrome, as it has sufficient surrounding detail to identify the plot to be registered. Instead, the issue is that there are several other references shown on the plan, the colours of which cannot be identified from the monochrome plan.
	This deed plan would be acceptable for registration. Like Example 5, there are multiple references shown on the plan, however in this case there is sufficient information annotated on the plan, and along with the differences between the style of the references, which enables these to be identified and plotted on the cadastral map.