Introduction to the Sasines Manual

The Register of Sasines and the Land Register

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The Sasine Register is a historical register of deeds affecting land and comprises 33 divisions called Counties. These counties correspond to the geographical counties that divided the country before regionalisation, e.g. Lanark, Ayr, Wigtown, etc. Deeds affecting land in a particular county are registered in that Sasine County.

The Keeper has no responsibility for the intrinsic validity of any deed which is recorded or for the soundness of the title which a series of recorded deeds gives in respect of any particular property. The Keeper has, over the years, in order to preserve "the faith of the record", pointed out errors in deeds presented for recording so that they may be corrected before the deeds are recorded. He has, however, only powers of persuasion in this respect. He has only very limited powers to refuse to accept a deed for recording.

To identify a property, the Sasine Register relies on the property description contained in the deeds submitted for recording. This is different from the Land Register, where the precise extent and location of the property are identified on the Ordnance Survey Map.

When a county is converted to the Land Register it is called an “operational county”. When a county becomes operational the Land Register begins to take over from the Sasine Register. Deeds that transfer ownership are recorded in the Land Register, and no more transactions are recorded in the Sasine Register for that property. The Sasine Register continues to provide the historical record of all transactions recorded before the county become operational.

LAND REGISTER

The Land Register is gradually superseding the Sasine Register. All 33 counties are now operational in the Land Register. 

After the operational dates, when a property is sold (i.e. the title is transferred in return for a monetary consideration), it is registered in the Land Register. Until that time, any other transactions affecting a property in an operational county will continue to be registered in the Sasine Register.

HISTORY OF THE REGISTERS

There has been a property register in Scotland since 1617. Over this time the system of Registration has seen many changes. The Search Sheet system was introduced in 1871 for the counties of Glasgow and Renfrew. By 1876 all counties had a Search Sheet system. The Search Sheet is divided into 2 parts – the first and second series. The Second Series runs from 1905 to the present day. If there have been no transactions affecting a property since 1905, then no Second Series Sheet will exist, and the first series will have to be examined.

For a long time other registers ran concurrently with the main Sasine Register held in Edinburgh. Of these various Registers the Burgh Register is the most significant. The Burgh Registers were kept from 1681. Although most were discontinued much earlier, the final one remained until 1963. Like the first series, if no transactions affecting a property have been recorded for a long time, it is possible that they remain in the Burgh Register.