Common Areas - When to Include, Omit or Reject

General

A key feature of the 2012 Act is that there can be no registration without mapping - all ownership rights to plots of land, be they exclusive or common rights, must be mapped onto the cadastral map. The exception to this rule is the registration of a flatted or tenement property, as section 16 of the Act allows any rights of ownership that fall within the tenement steading cadastral unit to be verbalised.

A large number of applications have been received since the designated day (8 December 2014) that do not define the extent of common areas. Often the common areas are described in a previously recorded or registered deed of conditions, and are not shown on a deed plan or fully described in the text of that deed. In some instances, it may be very difficult for an applicant to have a new plan drawn up that accurately shows the extent of the common areas in a development as the applicant may not know the actual location and extent of all of those areas. The Keeper has therefore developed a pragmatic solution that allows many of these applications to be processed in respect of the main plots whilst omitting the common areas from the cadastral map and title sheet, thus reducing the number of applications that require to be rejected.

Useful links

FR - When to Map Common Areas Under the Transitional Provisions

TP - When to Create or Add to a Shared Plot Title Sheet

TP - When to Map Common Areas under the Transitional Provisions

How to Map Titles With Multiple Common Areas

How to Map Common Areas with Verbal Descriptions

Rejection - Common Rejection Reasons & Conditions

Legal Guidance on Unmappable Common Areas - see Property Section Information

Important Guidance of Plans Officers

For clarification, the Unmappable Common Areas policy applies when the extent and location of the common area has never been referred to as being shown on a deed plan or described with a full bounding description.

If the common area has been shown on a deed plan but

(i) either that deed plan has not been included with the application, or

(ii) only a poor copy/incomplete plan/plan showing a partial reference/monochrome copy of the plan has been submitted with the application,

then the Unmappable Common Areas policy does not apply - these areas of common ownership have been (partially) mapped on a deed plan, but just not to the standard that we need to transfer them accurately onto the cadastral map.

In these instances, the Keeper could show the common area on the cadastral map if the original deed plan, a complete plan, or an adequate copy of the plan, is submitted with the application. However, if the applicant does not submit a (complete) plan, or only an inadequate copy, then the application does not meet the conditions of registration as the Keeper cannot accurately map the common area on the cadastral map. Such applications should be rejected. The flowchart below will help lead you through this decision process.

Please also see Further Guidance page Partial Reference Shown on Deed Plan for more details of when an incomplete plan/plan showing a partial reference will lead to rejection of the application.

Rights in common to pipes, drains and cables

Care must be taken if a deed attempts to dispone a right of common ownership in pipes, drains or cables which run through land owned exclusively by someone else, rather than a right simply to lay and maintain etc pipes, etc, or a right in common to a strip of land through which pipes, etc run. This is because it is not possible to sever ownership of pipes or cables from the land through which they run, so consideration must be given to decide if a valid right has been created.

Rights to pipes, cables and drains

Any applications where a right of ownership in pipes or cables is included and it appears that the pipes and cables run through land owned by another party should be referred in the first instance to a legal senior caseworker.

The Common Areas - Include, Omit or Reject? flowchart (see right) should be used to establish what action to take if an application for registration contains a right in common to a common area that is not referred to as being shown on a deed plan, is not described with a full bounding description, or has an inadequate deed plan or description.

Visio 5032

Action a plans settler should take if a right in common is being omitted

Do not add a plans casenote in the Plan Creator, simply omit the common area from the mapping of the cadastral unit.
Add an LRS title note giving the legal settler details of the right in common that has been omitted - this note is very important and must be added whenever plans omit a right in common to an Unmappable Common Area.
Sample title note
The right in common to the common amenity ground in deed 2 has been omitted from the cadastral unit as it cannot be mapped. If a note is required in the title sheet, please add the appropriate note(s).
Request that the legal settler sends the pro forma letter to the submitting agent upon completion of the registration.
Sample title note
Please send a letter to the submitting agent advising them that the right in common to the common amenity ground has been omitted from their title.