SASINE REGISTER

Application
An application for the recording of a deed in the Sasine Register is made using the Sasine Application Form (SAF). As of 28th November 2004 presentment of the SAF is a statutory requirement and acts as the Agent’s instruction to the Keeper to record the deed (in effect replacing the Warrant of Registration). A CPB2 form is no longer acceptable, and from 22 January 2007 there is a revised style of the SAF (as prescribed by the Register of Sasines (Application Procedure) Amendment Rules 2006). The presenting Agent completes the appropriate fields and submits the Form with the deed, the recording dues and any other relevant information to the Sasine Intake Section.

Intake and Examination The Keeper carries out a number of checks to ensure that all appropriate fields on the Form are completed accurately and the correct SAF presented. The payment details are also checked and processed. Aside from recording dues, pre-payment is required for deeds to be recorded contemporaneously in the Books of Council and Session for preservation and execution. To enable this, the Agent also completes boxes 8, 9 and 10 as appropriate on the SAF. Publication extracts are requested in writing at the time of submission and invoiced by the Keeper as post-payment (only box 10 will be marked on the SAF).

The application is also checked to ensure that an appropriate Stamp Duty Land Tax form is enclosed and completed.

The deed is date-stamped, assigned a daily running number and the details entered onto the Computerised Sasine Register. Presentment of the application can be checked using the People and Places Index as well as the date of presentment, county and daily running number. An acknowledgement is generated and posted out the next working day.

Dual Registration
An application for registration which creates real burdens affecting a Sasines property is required to be registered and recorded contemporaneously to give effect. The Land Register Agent completes the appropriate Land Register forms and fees, and submits the whole application with a completed SAF (by the Sasine Agent) and recording dues of £30 to the appropriate Land Register Intake Section in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

For a purely Sasines Dual Registration where the transfer does not induce registration and there is no Land Register element, only one SAF is required as long as all the relevant applicants are named. The fee is based on the value of the subjects being transferred - an additional fee of £30 on top of the ad valorem recording dues is not required as note of the burdens is made automatically. The Agent submits such applications directly to Sasine Intake in Edinburgh.

If an application has already been submitted to the Land Register alone and the Keeper has subsequently requisitioned a SAF and cheque in order to give effect to servitude rights, the Agent submits these directly to the person who requisitioned them. If a SAF and cheque are submitted without requisition, the Agent sends these to Sasine Intake with a covering letter and a note of the relevant Title Number.

Records and Despatch
As from 1 May 2006 the fiche is no longer used to generate the record volume, instead the Keeper reproduces an electronic image. The details of the fiche and frame numbers on the recording stamp have been replaced by Yearly Running Numbers. As before, the record volumes are transmitted to the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) for safe keeping. Once the image has been captured, the deeds are returned to the presenting Agent. Deeds recorded for Preservation and Execution are preserved by NAS, and Dual Registrations presented in both the Sasine and Land Registers are retained by the Keeper to enable the case to be settled. A receipt of payment is sent out in all cases.

Common Problems
There are six key elements crucial to registration, without which the Keeper will be unable to accept the deed:

•	Fees - pre-payment is a statutory requirement.
•	Sasine Application Form - the instruction of the Keeper to record the deed – all appropriate fields must be completed accurately.
•	Stamp Duty - the deed must be submitted with an appropriate Stamp Duty form
•	Operative Clause - the deed must contain present tense words of conveyancing or granting.
•	Property Description - must be sufficient to allow the Keeper to relate it to existing records, normally short common law description plus a reference to the breakaway deed.
•	Execution - the deed must be probative, e.g. signed by the Granter before a designed witness who must also sign.

In the case of a significant discrepancy, it is almost inevitable that the deed will either be returned prior to presentment or have to be withdrawn from the Sasine Register for amendment, thus losing its original recording date and priority.