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Meeting of the Parliament 31 May 2012

31 May 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Land Registration etc (Scotland) Bill

Ewing, Fergus SNP Inverness and Nairn Watch on SPTV

This has been a useful and constructive debate. I thank all members for their contributions. The debate has demonstrated that members agree that this is an important bill. Any disagreement appeared to centre on how exciting it is. I am pleased that all speakers have acknowledged that it is a useful, solid piece of work that will allow us to make great progress with our land registration system.

As has been mentioned, the register of sasines was revolutionary. In 1617, it was the first national land registration system in the world. For its time, it was pioneering. However, as those of us who spent many years in private practice dealing with conveyancing know, the old system involves poring over deeds, which are mostly handwritten and sometimes include quite vague descriptions of land. I remember one description that simply said, “All and whole of that three merk land of old extent.” Goodness me. That conveyancing description must have been drafted after an extended lunch, because it did not provide much clarity about the boundaries of the land involved.

Equally, I am sure that Miss Goldie and Mr Fraser will remember spending far too many hours poring over handwritten documents such as contracts of excambion, charters of novodamus, feu contracts, feu dispositions, bonds and dispositions in security.

Of course, one of the great benefits of the land register is not that those deeds are somehow dispensed with and rendered no longer relevant, because, often, they may still be relevant, even if some of them have fallen into desuetude; it is that most of them will now be shown on the burden section—called land obligations, now—of the title sheet, in typewritten form. That has the practical benefit for the people whom we represent that their lawyers are not spending hours—for which they are paying—poring over old handwritten deeds.

It has been said that the purpose of this bill is purely transactional. I think that it is a good thing that we are helping to aid the process of making the job of land registration one that can benefit the people whom we represent who want to own their house. I do not think that it does justice to the work of the keeper or the profession to say that that is purely transactional. This morning, we are doing something that will benefit a great many people in Scotland and, in a modest way, will make Scotland a better place.

The bill creates more triggers for registration, allowing the process to encompass more transaction. I inform the chamber that I am advised by the keeper that that is likely to result in 7,000 additional first registrations in the first year after the designated day.

Earlier, I mentioned the Forestry Commission. I praise it for carrying out a survey of its land holdings in Scotland. The Forestry Commission owns 1,969 parcels of land covering 650,000 hectares, which accounts for 7.5 per cent of Scotland’s land mass. That is a substantial proportion of our land mass, and I welcome the willingness of the Forestry Commission to engage in how we take the issue forward.

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Meeting of the Parliament 31 May 2012

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