Description of Flatted Property Must Be Acceptable
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Key requirements for the description of the flat
It is essential that each flat is sufficiently described so that it can be:
- identified within the tenement steading, &
- differentiated from all the other flats in that tenement steading.
The description can be purely verbal, or can be a combination of verbal and by reference to a deed plan.
Verbal descriptions of flats
When a flat, unit, shop or office (simplified to flat in this guidance) in a tenement is described in a purely verbal way, there are three essential criteria that must be met before the description is acceptable for registration. An acceptable verbal description can then be used in preparing the property section of the title sheet for the flat being registered.
If the verbal description of the flat or unit in the deed for extent in your application does not meet the three criteria listed below, refer to a referral officer for rejection because the Keeper cannot accurately identify the property in the title sheet.
Criteria 1 - postal address
A postal address must be given in the DIR or deed for extent.
Please note, a postal address alone is not a sufficient description of a flat. It must also be accompanied by some other means of locating that flat within the block - it should be used in combination with the floor level (Criteria 2) and the location on that floor (Criteria 3). This is because we have seen examples of when schemes of flat numbering or description within a block has changed over time, so to avoid potential confusion in the future, we need to know where it is in the building (which floor & which location).
Criteria 2 - floor level
The floor level (or levels) of the flat within the flatted building must be given in the DIR or deed for extent.
Criteria 3 - location
The location of the flat on that floor level (or levels) must be given in the deed for extent.
Examples of acceptable and unacceptable verbal descriptions
| Example 1 - acceptable verbal description of a flat | Example 2 - acceptable verbal description of a flat | Example 3 - acceptable verbal description of a flat | Example 4 - acceptable verbal description of a flat |
|---|---|---|---|
| "All and Whole the flatted dwellinghouse 54C Spittal Street, Stirling being the eastmost flat on the first floor above ground within the block of four flatted dwellinghouses 54A, 54B, 54C and 54D Spittal Street, aforesaid. Which subjects are erected on......." | "All and Whole that former dwellinghouse (now office premises) number 1 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh being the ground floor and the basement storey of the tenement known as 1 Randolph Crescent and 1 Randolph Place, Edinburgh, which tenement is erected on that area of piece of ground....." | "All and Whole the right-hand or westmost flat on the second floor at 17 Carson Place, Glasgow, which tenement is erected on ...." | "All and Whole 53 King Street, Bridge of Earn being the left-hand shop on the street level of the block 53, 54 and 55 King Street ....." |
This verbal description meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
When a description such as this is accepted for registration, there is very little risk that a competing title would be accepted at a later date as it would be clear from the title sheet which flat in the building had already been registered. | This verbal description meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
When a description such as this is accepted for registration, there is very little risk that a competing title would be accepted at a later date as it would be clear from the title sheet which flat or unit in the building had already been registered. | This verbal description meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
When a description such as this is accepted for registration, there is very little risk that a competing title would be accepted at a later date as it would be clear from the title sheet which flat in the building had already been registered. | This verbal description meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
When a description such as this is accepted for registration, the plans officer should check the description of other registered flats or units on the same floor level to ensure that a consistent style of description has been used. If styles are inconsistent and you are concerned that there may be a competing title, please discuss with a referral officer in case additional information or confirmation is required from the submitting agent. |
| Example 5 - unacceptable verbal description of a flat | Example 6 - unacceptable verbal description of a flat |
|---|---|
| "All and Whole the flatted dwellinghouse 22D Brora Lane, Inverness on the first floor above ground of the block of four flats known as 22 Brora Lane, aforesaid....together with a right in common with flat 22C to the common stairs and first floor landing. Which subjects are erected on......." | "All and Whole that flatted dwellinghouse known as "Jessie Villa" forming part of the dwellinghouse formerly known as Villa Inveresk and now known as 4 Promenade, Fisherrow, Musselburgh, with the cellars....." |
This verbal description meets some but not all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore cannot be accepted for registration. It contains a postal address for the flat, describes the property as being a flatted dwellinghouse, and contains a floor level but it does not give the location on that floor level where the flat can be found. It is clear from the rest of the description that there is more than one flat at first floor level, therefore the flat cannot be uniquely identified from the other flat on this floor in the block. If a description such as this was accepted for registration, there is a risk that a competing title could be accepted at a later date, particularly if the flats were re-named or re-numbered. | This verbal description meets some but not all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore cannot be accepted for registration. It contains a postal address for the building, and describes the property as being a flatted dwellinghouse, but it does not give any details of the floor level or the location on that floor level where the flat can be found. The flat cannot be uniquely identified from other flats in the block. If a description such as this was accepted for registration, there is a risk that a competing title could be accepted at a later date as it would not be clear which flat in the building had already been registered, particularly if the flat had changed name from Jessie Villa to another name. |
Verbal descriptions of flats combined with a reference on a deed plan
When a flat, unit, shop or office (simplified to flat in this guidance) in a tenement is described verbally and also by reference to an extent shown on a deed plan, there are three essential criteria that must be met before the description is acceptable for registration. An acceptable verbal description combined with a deed plan can then be used in preparing the mapped supplementary data and the property section of the title sheet for the flat being registered.
If the combined description of the flat or unit in the deed for extent in your application does not meet the three criteria listed below, refer to a referral officer for rejection because the Keeper cannot accurately identify the property in the title sheet.
Criteria 1 - postal address
A postal address must be given in the DIR or deed for extent.
Please note, a postal address alone is not a sufficient description of a flat. It must also be accompanied by some other means of locating that flat within the block - it should be used in combination with the floor level (Criteria 2) and the location on that floor (Criteria 3) . This is because we have seen examples of when schemes of flat numbering or description within a block has changed over time, so to avoid potential confusion in the future, we need to know where it is in the building (which floor & which location).
Criteria 2 - floor level
The floor level (or levels) of the flat within the flatted building must be given in the DIR or deed for extent.
Criteria 3 - location
The location of the flat on that floor level (or levels) must be given in the deed for extent, and/or be shown on a deed plan that is referred to in the deed for extent.
Examples of acceptable and unacceptable verbal descriptions of flats combined with a reference on a deed plan
| Example 1 - acceptable verbal description of a flat combined with a reference to a deed plan | Example 2 - acceptable verbal description of a flat combined with a reference to a deed plan | Example 3 - unacceptable verbal description of a flat combined with a reference to a deed plan |
|---|---|---|
| "All and Whole that ground and first floor flatted dwellinghouse known as and forming 34D Boyd Court, Kilmarnock in the County of Ayr forming part of the block of four flatted dwellinghouses number 34A, 34B, 34C and 34D Boyd Court aforesaid, the extent of which flatted dwellinghouse on the ground floor is shown coloured red and hatched black and labelled 34B and 34D on the plan annexed and signed as relative hereto, and on the first floor is shown coloured red and hatched black and labelled 34D on the said plan ....." | "All and Whole that two storey flatted dwellinghouse entering from the street level and known as and forming 34D Boyd Court, Kilmarnock in the County of Ayr forming part of the block of four flatted dwellinghouses number 34A, 34B, 34C and 34D Boyd Court aforesaid, the extent of which flatted dwellinghouse is shown coloured red and hatched black on the plan annexed and signed as relative hereto, ....." | "All and Whole that flatted dwellinghouse known as and forming 34D Boyd Court, Kilmarnock in the County of Ayr forming part of the block of four flatted dwellinghouses number 34A, 34B, 34C and 34D Boyd Court aforesaid, the extent of which flatted dwellinghouse is shown coloured red and hatched black on the plan annexed and signed as relative hereto....." |
 | |  |
This verbal description meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
The deed plan meets the criteria for accurately identifying a property on the cadastral map and can be accepted for registration. It is at an appropriate scale, is drawn to scale, has a north arrow, and contains sufficient surrounding detail to identify the extent of the flat accurately within the building. When a description such as this is accepted for registration, there is very little risk that a competing title would be accepted at a later date as it would be clear from the title sheet which flat in the building had already been registered. | This verbal description combined with the information contained in the deed plan meets all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore can be accepted for registration.
The deed plan meets the criteria for accurately identifying a property on the cadastral map and can be accepted for registration. It is at an appropriate scale, is drawn to scale, has a north arrow, and contains sufficient surrounding detail to identify the extent of the flat accurately within the building. When a description such as this is accepted for registration, there is very little risk that a competing title would be accepted at a later date as it would be clear from the title sheet which flat in the building had already been registered. | This verbal description meets some but not all of the criteria for accurately identifying a flat or unit within a tenement or flatted building, and therefore cannot be accepted for registration. The description contains a postal address for the flat and the building and describes the property as a flatted dwellinghouse, but it does not give any details of the floor level or levels within the text of the deed. The deed plan shows the words "upper floor" and this could potentially be used but neither the text of the deed nor the deed plan describe the other level so this description is not sufficient. In addition, the deed plan meets some but not all of the necessary criteria for accurately identifying a property on the cadastral map, and therefore cannot be accepted for registration. Although there is a location plan and a north arrow, it does not have a scale bar or quoted scale so we cannot be certain it is drawn to scale. Also, it does not contain sufficient surrounding detail to identify the location of the flat accurately within the building. The flat cannot be uniquely identified from other flats in the block. If a description such as this was accepted for registration by omitting the plans reference and relying just on the verbal description, there is a risk that a competing title could be accepted at a later date as it would not be clear which flat in the building had already been registered, particularly if the flats were re-named or re-numbered. |
Exceptions to the rule
There are four scenarios where we can use a little more discretion with regards to the three criteria for a verbal description, and a common link between the first three types of exception is that all of these flat or unit types have their own external door. The risk of a street number being changed is much lower than the risk of an internal numbering/naming system being altered. There are other reasons why we have agreed practice around these property types and they are explained below. The final exception scenario relates to leases of part of a tenement.
Exception for 4-in-a-block flats
In these blocks, all the flats have their own unique postal address and also have their own external front door (in other words, they are not accessed via a common close or common stairs). A description such as "...23 Carlton Place, Irvine KA12 8HR on the upper floor of the block 21, 23, 25 and 27 Carlton Place..." would be acceptable in a 4-in-a-block despite the lack of compass orientation provided that we are satisfied that there is only one no. 23 within the block and that all flats in the block have their own external front doors. These types of block are generally built to a similar pattern with consistent numbering, and there is also another guidance page on how we can use more discretion when identifying the extent of the tenement steading cadastral unit for 4-in-a-blocks.
Exception for Main door flats
Some blocks of traditional tenement flats have a common door or entrance giving access to those flats on the upper floors, but the one or two ground floor flats have their own external front door so are not accessed via the common entrance. They will normally have a different street number than the flats entered by the common close. There are two scenarios when we can use a little more discretion when deciding what is an acceptable verbal description of a main door flat.
- If there is only one main door flat in a block, then "...the main door flat 25 of the block 25 and 27 Easter Street, Wemyss Bay..." would be acceptable despite the lack of floor level or location/compass orientation - the inclusion of the description "main door flat" together with the postal address is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from all the other flats in the block. Although it doesn't state a floor or a location, only that part of the block occupied by the main door flat can be understood to be included within that description, so it can't be confused with that part of the building occupied by, for example, a first floor flat entered by the common close.
- If there are two main door flats in a block, then although we can take a roughly similar approach to the single flat example above, we also need to be able to differentiate between the two main door flats. "...the westmost main door flat 25 of the block 25, 27 and 29 Easter Street, Wemyss Bay..." would be acceptable despite the lack of floor level - the inclusion of the description "main door flat" together with the postal address is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from all the flats in the block entered by the common entrance, and the inclusion of the description "westmost" is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from the other main door flat.
- For clarification, if there are two main door flats in a block, a description such as "...the main door flat 25 of the block 25, 27 and 29 Easter Street, Wemyss Bay..." would not be acceptable as it does not distinguish between the two main door flats.
Exception for Shop premises
Some tenement blocks have shop (or office premises) on the ground floor with residential flats above, with the flats being entered off a common close or stairs. As with main door flats, the shop will normally have a separate external door and a different street number than the flats entered by the common close. There are two scenarios when we can use a little more discretion when deciding what is an acceptable verbal description of a shop or office premises.
- If there is only one shop in a block, then "...the shop premises 142 of the tenement 142 & 144 West Road, East Linton..." would be acceptable despite the lack of floor level or location/compass orientation - the inclusion of the description "shop premises" together with the postal address is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from all the other flats in the block. Although it doesn't state a floor or a location, only that part of the block occupied by the shop premises can be understood to be included within that description, so it can't be confused with that part of the building occupied by, for example, a first floor flat entered by the common close.
- If there are two shops in a block, then although we can take a roughly similar approach to the single shop example above, we also need to be able to differentiate between the two shops. "...the northmost shop premises 142 of the tenement 140, 142 and 144 West Road, East Linton... would be acceptable despite the lack of floor level - the inclusion of the description "shop premises" together with the postal address is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from all the flats in the block entered by the common entrance, and the inclusion of the description "northmost" is enough of a unique description to differentiate it from the other shop.
- For clarification, if there are two shops in a block, a description such as "...the shop premises 142 of the tenement 140, 142 and 144 West Road, East Linton..." would not be acceptable as it does not distinguish between the two shops.
Exception for Lease of part of a tenement
If your application is to register a lease of part of a tenement, and your application contains a verbal description and refers to a plan (see the section above Verbal descriptions of flats combined with a reference on a deed plan), then there is an exception that can be applied in certain circumstances. If the deed plan showing the leased premises does not meet the Keeper's requirements for mapping, we can treat the reference to the plan in the description as pro non scripto and work solely with the verbal description of the leased premises.
This is possible because of the Keeper's policy of incorporating the whole of the lease deed (with any plans) into the title sheet by reference to the deed in the archive record. Even if not shown as a plans reference on the cadastral map, the information contained in the lease plan(s) is not “lost” when the Keeper uses only the verbal description as the whole deed effectively forms part of the title sheet. This exception to normal policy applies to the scenario of leases within tenements and to the associated APR application (if one exists).
It must be stressed, however, that we can only proceed on the basis of the verbal description if that verbal description is acceptable (see above).
Registers of Scotland (RoS) seeks to ensure that the information published in the 2012 Act Registration Manual is up to date and accurate but it may be amended from time to time.
The Manual is an internal document intended for RoS staff only. The information in the Manual does not constitute legal or professional advice and RoS cannot accept any liability for actions arising from its use.
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