Changes to the mortgage process in Scotland

The historic deeds-based General Register of Sasines will close to standard securities on 1^st April and, as a result, applicants planning to use a new lender to re-mortgage or take out additional lending secured on their existing Scottish property may need to prepare a voluntary registration application to move a title onto the land register.

The change is expected to affect a small percentage of people seeking lending against their property, with historically around four to five thousand applicants who still have property on the sasine register taking out a new security with new lenders each year.

If a property’s title needs to be moved from the sasine register onto the land register, the customer will still pay the same fee of £60 to register the standard security. The normal registration fee to move onto the land register will be waived. The property may also require a plan to be drawn to meet the requirements of the land register and this cost will be dependent on the complexity of individual map requirements.

The change will not affect those wishing to re-mortgage with an existing lender, as monies are rolled into the same account, with no need to check title deeds. Nor will it affect customers purchasing a mortgage on a new property, as the title, if still held on the sasine register, will be moved onto the land register under existing triggers.

To coincide with the legislation change, Registers of Scotland (RoS) has been working with national umbrella groups such as the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (www.a-m-i.org.uk) and Council for Mortgage Lenders (www.cml.org.uk) as well as the UK’s major lenders, conveyancing solicitors and mortgage brokers to tell them about this new legislation and how it may affect some customers.

Charles Keegan, head of land register completion at RoS, said: “All those who advise mortgage applicants recognise the importance of keeping their clients informed of any changes that may affect them. We would urge lenders and mortgage brokers at pre-application stage to let relevant customers know that they may be required to move from one public register to another in order to obtain a new security.

“Having a title on the land register provides greater security of ownership and in the future any transactions on your property will be easier, faster and cheaper.”

The sasine register will close to all standard securities from 1 April 2016 as part of the steps implemented by the Scottish Government to trigger registration of property onto the land register so that there is a complete picture of land and property ownership in Scotland on one, publicly-accessible register.

Further information and key facts about the closure of the sasines to standard security in Scotland can be found on the RoS website at ros.gov.uk/securities.