I’m continuing to send you regular updates to outline the measures that Registers of Scotland (RoS) are taking in response to the ongoing public health emergency and how these measures have been helping businesses and customers.
For clarity, our buildings remain closed and we are therefore not accepting paper applications or personal presentments at our offices, but we have implemented a range of solutions (detailed below) that allow property transactions to take place and enable access to our registers.
Significant updates this week include:
- Limits on house moves are relaxing as Scotland enters phase two of the Scottish Government’s route map to ease Coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions on 29 June.
- A summary of the status of all our products and services to support you getting back to work.
- Digital systems continue to successfully replace paper submissions
Moving to Phase 2
In a statement to parliament on Thursday 18 June, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that we are moving into Phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s route map to ease Coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.
From Monday 29 June, members of the public will be allowed to leave their homes in order to undertake certain activities in connection with the purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property which are expected to include:
- visiting estate or letting agents, developer sales offices or show homes;
- viewing residential properties to look for a property to buy or rent;
- preparing a residential property to move in;
- moving home; or
- visiting a residential property to undertake any activities required for the rental or sale of that property.
This will allow people working for relevant organisations and businesses to travel to work where necessary in order to undertake these activities in a safe manner.
A key change is that a home move will no longer have to be reasonably necessary; home moves will be permitted. However the Scottish Government is emphasising that everyone should still comply with the physical distancing and health guidelines.
Please note that the detailed rules for phase 2 are contingent on amendments being made to the Scottish coronavirus restriction regulations.
The Scottish Government has confirmed it will also issue revised guidance to replace the current Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on moving home before phase 2 begins.
More information is available on the Scottish Government website.
Customers getting back to work
We know that some of you will have been able to work safely and remotely during this time. However, many of you will have been furloughed and will now be coming back to work after a period of time away.
With this in mind, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to provide a summary of the status of each of our services and products. We want to support you to get quickly back up to speed and feel confident in the continued level of service that RoS provides.
We have been working hard throughout the lockdown period to create a range of new digital systems to allow the majority of our registers to be fully functional on a remote basis. These systems have been working well and have been extremely well received by customers to date.
These services have been enabled through emergency legislation and will continue to replace the physical submissions process. Until further notice we will not be accepting paper applications so please do not send any as they will not be opened and returned to sender.
Some of you may travel to work again as the market starts to refresh and we are aware that solicitors may not have been able to retrieve and send us all existing application paperwork from their offices. I have therefore agreed with the Law Society of Scotland that I will not declare the application record fully reopen until this can happen.
Declaring the record re-open is the trigger point defined in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 for advance notices in the system (that have not yet been replaced by an application) to start to expire after 10 days. This date will be communicated to you once agreed.
Service summary
Please see below for the summary of our services. If you have any queries our expert customer service team is ready to answer your calls.
In particular, if you have a complex or urgent application then we would recommend you continue to speak to one of our senior advisors for guidance: email customerservices@ros.gov.uk or phone 0800 169 9391.
Online systems
Emergency coronavirus legislation is in place that allows us to accept digital submissions in the following areas.
Land register
Advance notices
Register of Inhibitions and Register of Judgments
Existing services
You can also access our existing online business services for
- ScotLIS for business
- Digital Discharge Service
- Reports
Copies of our documents continue to be available via our website.
We are working on a digital solution for sasine register applications and aim to launch in early July.
Contact the relevant business area or customer services
Email or call customer services (customerservices@ros.gov.uk or phone: 0800 169 9391) to be connected with someone who can help in the following areas; or for those areas which have a dedicated mailbox to support customers, please email direct.
| Service / Register | Contact email |
|---|---|
| Sasine register (until the digital system is available) | sasineenquiries@ros.gov.uk |
| Register of Deeds | customerservices@ros.gov.uk |
| ScotLIS support enquiries | customerservices@ros.gov.uk |
| Post registration enquiries | postReg-CX-RectificationEnquiries@ros.gov.uk |
| Land register rectification requests | postReg-CX-RectificationEnquiries@ros.gov.uk |
| Compensation payments | compensation.team@ros.gov.uk |
| Search requests | searches@ros.gov.uk |
| Development plan approval | dpa@ros.gov.uk |
| Copy deeds | lrcopydeeds@ros.gov.uk |
| Requests for land and property data | data@ros.gov.uk |
| GIS services | gis@ros.gov.uk |
| Crofting register applications | crofting.register@ros.gov.uk |
| Register of Community Interests in Land (Agricultural Tenants) queries | customerservices@ros.gov.uk |
| Register of Protests | customerservices@ros.gov.uk |
Ordering deeds
The vast majority of deeds will be provided in the usual way. However, we are currently unable to source:
- Extracts from any register
- Duplicate plans
- Burgh Register deeds
Extract orders will be placed on hold and processed when this service becomes available again. If you have an urgent requirement for any of these services please contact customer services so we can arrange to support you via our emergency processes.
We hold digitised sasine deeds from the mid-1870s and all copy deeds should continue to be ordered via our website.
For larger orders you can email customer services.
Contact us
A bespoke email address covid19enquiries@ros.gov.uk is available for general questions about RoS processes and procedures during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Please direct enquiries about specific property transactions and cases to:
Email: customerservices@ros.gov.uk
Phone: 0800 169 9391
If there are is anything else you would like to bring to my attention during this period, please email FAO Jennifer Henderson: rossecretariat@ros.gov.uk.
Jennifer Henderson, Keeper of the Registers of Scotland
Thank you for your regular updates. Looking forward to the Books of Council and Session re-opening.