Registration Info

REGISTRATION AND OWNERSHIP

Information

Registration Takes Time

The official figures show that 56% of registrations have failed to hit the target processing time due to delays in the Officail Registers, as set by the Scottish government's official record-keeper. In response the Registar of Scotland statedthat they understood the frustration it is causing. The problems mostly relate to late processing of title deeds classified as "unregistered land". These are being transferred from traditional paper-based descriptions of land holding to digitised ones with Ordnance Survey co-ordinates. In many cases, these details don't match up.

REGISTERS OF SCOTLAND ARREARS RESPONSE - In response to recent press reports, regarding our announcement this week on our plans to address our backlog of applications, Registers of Scotland wishes to reassure customers and citizens that this is an administrative process that will not impact them in any way. In the highly unlikely event that this delay is creating an issue for customers we have communicated widely to relevant stakeholders in the legal, lending and conveyancing community on our plans to expedite those cases to ensure no problems occur.
In 2017/18 Registers of Scotland successfully completed over 661,000 applications to our registers, with the average time to process an application being 26.5 days, well within our service level agreement of 6-9 months depending on the type of transaction.
The reason for our earlier announcement was to reassure customers and citizens that we accept that our backlog of 40,000 cases is unacceptable and to provide details of our plans to eradicate it within the next 12 months, reporting our progress on a monthly basis to provide additional reassurance and transparency on our delivery.

An overview of the basics.

What did I buy? . . .Was it the house, just a building, an area of ground or a little piece of the country? The answer is probably all of these things. Starting from the ground up you own the area of ground outlined on the plan on the Land Register. Think of it as an area on the flat (sometimes hilly) surface of the earth. You own this and the publication of this on the Land Register ensures that everyone else knows that you own it. Now you’re starting to think that you’ve paid a lot of money for that area of ground, aren’t you. So where’s the value?

Well, first of all, remember that there is a finite amount of ground available that has to go around everyone in the country. Generally, the more people that want your ground then the more valuable your ownership is. We’ve all heard the maxim ‘location, location, location’ – and it’s true that the value is often derived from where the property is. For example, it’s often more expensive to buy property in central London than more provincial areas.

Secondly, it’s likely that the area of ground you bought has a house on it. The size of the area of ground and the size of the property itself has a direct influence on price as you’d expect. If you look at a survey report you’ll see that as well as stating the value of the property, the surveyor will also estimate the rebuild cost of the property. Sometimes the actual value of the property will be many times the rebuild costs or vice versa, usually depending on the demand for the area.

Thirdly, the property may have influence on surrounding properties. For example, there may be servitude’s that add value or areas of shared ownership. This is especially true for flatted homes, where often the area of ground the flats are built on is shared in equal proportions between the owners.

Finally, the real value is only what you are prepared to pay for. To a certain extent, this makes the value less about money and more about, well, more sentimental matters.

Of course, there are plenty of so-called ‘house doctors’ who will recommend you paint your home magnolia and mono-block your driveway to increase the value of your home. These recommendations may also be helpful when it comes making your home more appealing to achieve the best price, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

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WE ARE HERE TO HELP

From when you decide to Sell, Purchase, Tranfer or Re Finance your property, we are here to help. We have a proven track record for over 10 Years in Scottish property (Residential and Commercial) of helping save thousands of pounds. From help to appoint an Estate Agent, Negotiation Tips, Legal Guides and practical advice. Just drop us an email or phone or if easier read through our extensive Online Guides.

HOW TO AVOID ANY STRESS & ASSUMPTIONS

Assumptions create 70% of all conveyancing stress and issues. We make assumptions every minute of every day. Something happens and we instantly assign meaning to it. That is an assumption. Yet conveyancing and the residential legal system in Scotland is constantly changing and so does what your solicitor is reqired by law to do and what is required of you. We start imagining and reasoning what is going on, we look at social media and ask friends, what they think, what they experienced. We rationalise an entire assumed story based on assumptions and we believe it. One assumption leads to another assumption; we jump to conclusions and we take it personally. Almost all conflicts and desisions we take are based on assumptions. Assumptions are nothing more than false stories that we are telling ourselves. They create a big drama for no reason because they aren’t based on fact. If you really want to avoid the stress of moving, ensure that your experience is a possitive one and you are informed, why not just ask your property solicitor?