General

From 21st March 2018 it is no longer a general application condition in terms of section 22(1)(d) that an application for registration of a deed or for voluntary registration must be in the form prescribed by land register rules.

In January 2018, new statutory rules were approved by the Scottish Parliament which provide RoS with the opportunity to change the land register application form to respond to changing customer, business and technological needs and developments.

The Application form has been amended with changes focusing on the questions which lead to the greatest number of rejections as these present the biggest issues to our customers and colleagues. These questions are around ‘burdens’, ‘servitudes’ and ‘links in title’.

The statutory changes also allow for land registration application forms to be submitted without a signature, the absence of which is currently one of our top causes of application rejection.

Transitional Provisions

Application submitted on Old Registration Form

For a period of three months after the introduction of the new application form the Keeper will accept Applications both on the New and Old / Current Application Form.

During this transitional period applications submitted on the old application form should be processed in line with the current guidance in the Manual with the following Exceptions

1) Signature on Registration Form

No signature will be required on the new Application Form. To keep the process consistent any applications submitted on the old application form that are not signed WILL NOT BE REJECTED. The declaration on the form itself is sufficient and this will no longer be a Rejection Issue.

2) Links in Title Question.

This question is being removed from the new form. If an Application is being submitted on the old application form, and this question is not answered or is answered incorrectly, the application should still be processed. During the transitional period we can still use this question to inform any registration decisions we might make (particularly around situations which involve competing deeds submitted within AN protected periods), but we should not reject for non-completion or incorrect completion of this question (we can rely on the declaration at the end of the form to cover this).

Submission of Application without a Form or with a Form other than that provided by ROS

It is no longer statutory for the Applicant to submit an application using the Registration Form

The Keeper's Policy that if an application is submitted without a pro-forma application form (either new or old) then the Application will be rejected on the basis that the Keeper will not have sufficient information to complete the Title Sheet.

However, where an application is submitted with either a non-RoS application form, or where an attempt is made to use a paper apart/covering letter in place of an application form, all such applications received should be referred to Policy Unit who will advise whether the application should be rejected.

The application form for registration of a deed or voluntary registration has two parts. Part A contains the information required to make an entry for the application on the application record. Part B contains questions and associated requests for information, both of which are intended to assist in the completion of the registration process. xx

What does the application form look like?

The Rules provide a single application form for all types of application for registration. The applicant will be required to select the type of application for registration on the form. Where a registrable deed is, for example, both a transfer of an unregistered plot and affects the whole of a registered title, the applicant can select both types of application for registration (first registration and deed affecting whole of registered plot). See "Types of application for registration" below.

Registers of Scotland offers the facility for the application form to be completed by an applicant for registration or their agent using a "dynamic web form" available in the eForms product. Where the dynamic web form is used, the result of the applicant selecting the application type and registrable deed type will require that only the relevant sections of the form are to be completed - and only those relevant parts will show on the printed version of the form.

To see a complete copy of the old application for registration form, click here.

To see a complete copy of the new application for registration form, click here

Registration officers will also be examining application forms showing all parts of the application form where the dynamic web form (either in eForms or available via a solicitors own system) is not utilised. An application for registration does not require to be rejected on the basis that it does not resemble the version available using eForms.

Useful links

Application for Registration - Part A - Discrepancies

Application for Registration - Part B

Applicant's Death or Dissolution Prior to Application

Check Applicant - First Registration

An application relating to a caveat or an application for an advance notice or for discharge of advance notice all have their own application forms. This page is concerned only with the application for registration of a deed or for voluntary registration.

Types of Application for Registration

The application form requires the applicant to select the type of application for registration from six different application types. The applicant can insert more than one application type when completing the application form but not when using the interactive form. The table below gives a simple guide.

Application type shown on form	LRS application type
Deed over an unregistered plot xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx	FR
Deed affecting whole of registered plot	DW
Deed affecting part of registered plot	DW or TP (where deed is a disposition/contract of excambion/ statutory conveyance of part of registered plot, or a lease of whole or part of the plot).
Voluntary registration	VR
Automatic plot registration	AP (plus FR or TP as appropriate where the registrable deed is a grant of lease or assignation which is a first registration or if the grant of lease is a sub-lease from a registered lease). See Automatic Plot Registration - Intake Guidance.

Correct Form for Registration of Pro-Indiviso Share

A plot of land may be registered only to the extent of a pro-indiviso share or shares. If the remaining share or a further share in the plot is transferred, then the correct application form for that share is a deed affecting an unregistered plot (FR), or if the proprietor of the share wishes to voluntarily register, they should use an application for voluntary registration.

Application Form Problems Requiring Rejection of Application

No form or wrong form used

a.) Each registrable deed should be accompanied by a completed application form for registration. A request for voluntary registration must also be accompanied by a completed application form.

It is no longer statutory for the Applicant to submit an application using the Registration Form

The Keeper's Policy that if an application is submitted without a pro-forma application form (either new or old) then the Application will be rejected on the basis that the Keeper will not have sufficient information to complete the Title Sheet.

However, where an application is submitted with either a non-RoS application form, or where an attempt is made to use a paper apart/covering letter in place of an application form, all such applications received should be referred to Legal Services who will advise whether the application should be rejected.

b.) Use of the wrong form might occur if the application form for registration is not used but the applicant instead submits a registrable deed with a Notification of an Inaccuracy form or an application for a caveat. A further example is where a disposition inducing first registration is presented with a form for registration of a deed affecting a registered plot or part of a registered plot and so the questions applicable to a first registration do not appear on the application form. See Application for Registration - Part B.

Use of the wrong form might also occur where a registrable deed, such as a disposition or other conveyance, is submitted with a VR form. If the intention is to apply for registration of a disposition or other conveyance, the applicant must use the appropriate FR, TP or DW application form. This includes dispositions for a non-monetary consideration, such as those stated to be for "love, favour and affection", "certain good and onerous causes" or "implementation of will". Use of the VR application type is only appropriate where voluntary registration is being applied for, which is registration without a deed.

Officers should note that there may be instances where a notice of title is sent in as part of a VR application. The application does not require to be rejected in these circumstances, however the notice of title is not to be registered or considered further, and the application should proceed as a VR.

Formed marked as Draft

Any form marked as "draft" indicates that it is a preliminary version of the form and not the finished article. As such, it is an indication that the Keeper cannot rely on the information contained therein, regardless of the fact that the form contains a declaration/certification. As such the Keeper will not accept any form marked as "draft" for registration.

Form not signed

From 21st March 2018, it is no longer a requirement that an application for registration form is signed. This applies to both old and new forms.

Applicants address

In order to enable the Keeper to fulfil her duties under the s7(1)(a) of the 2012 Act, the submitting Agent is expected to provide as much information as possible, including the full address of the applicants and granters, in the application form. This is noted in our external guidance on this page.

If the address of the applicant given in the application form does not match the address in the deed presented for registration, then the application should be rejected - although consideration should be given as to whether the discrepancy is of a minor nature, for example the use of "ave" as a derivative of Avene, which can be accepted.

Applications rejected under this scenario should be processed using the rejection code L15g.

Major discrepancies between Part A of form and registrable deed

The form submitted must provide sufficient authority for the keeper to register the deed presented for registration. See Application for Registration - Part A - Discrepancies

Officers should note that it is rare for an apparent discrepancy to require rejection of the application for registration unless the error relates to the applicant in an application for registration of a deed affecting an unregistered plot or the evidence suggests that the named grantee has died prior to submission of the application.

Some applications where Part B questions are not attempted

There are two questions in Part B of the old application form which, if not attempted, may lead to rejection of the application for failure to complete the application form required under section 22(1)(d) and regulation 7 of the Rules. These are the questions at "Certification of Links in Title" and "Examination of Title".

If these questions are not attempted, for certain registrable deeds, it may be appropriate to reject the application for failure to complete the application form required under section 22(1)(d) and regulation 7 of the Rules.

For the new application for registration form the 'Certification of Links in title' question has been removed, but an answer to the question regarding Title Examination should be provided.

For further information, see Application for Registration - Part B. These questions would not usually be required to be completed where the registrable deed is one which would not usually entail an examination of title or would not usually involve the proprietor of the land in question.

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