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The plans registration officer will have done a certain amount of work on certain parts of the property section before the application reaches the legal registration officer. This will include preparing a plan, on which the subjects to which the application relates are normally delineated in red, inserting a basic description of the subjects, the date of registration, the nature of the interest, the map reference, and, when the extent of the subjects is over two hectares, the area. Legal registration officers should satisfy themselves that the details entered by the plans officer are correct. In particular a check should be made that all plans references required for the A, B, C or D sections appear on the title plan, and that there is nothing shown on the plan which is not explained in the title sheet. The plans registration officer will not insert any details of rights or pertinents; this is the duty of the legal registration officer.

When an application is a first registration, the plans registration officer will decide which of the following methods are the most suitable:

The site plan or steading method is used where the component parts of the subjects fall within an area which can be defined, but their location and extent within that area cannot be defined. The most common example for this method is tenemental style property. Even if the deeds contain floor plans it is only in exceptionally complicated cases that a floor plan will be used in a title sheet. Agency policy is to rely on verbal descriptions of flats wherever possible. The tenement steading will be edged red on the title plan and any pertinents will be identified verbally in the property section.

In newer developments, it may be possible to identify pertinents belonging to an individual flat by reference to the title plan.

The site plan method is extremely useful where it is impossible to identify the precise location and extent of a back green serving two or more tenements. In many cases, the individual back green serving a single tenement has either never been defined or has been combined with other back greens to form a collectively used area. Provided the back green falls within the legal extent of the granter of the foundation deeds’ title, plans section will include the back green, along with the solum of the particular tenement, within the red edge and normal site plan methods for describing the particular flat and editing in rights can be used.

The precise extent method is used where the property which is the subject of the application and any rights which include an element of ownership can be precisely identified and defined within a red edge on the title plan. Two situations can arise:

1. All the property within the red edging is wholly owned by the applicant, such as is the case in a normal, self-contained, suburban house with garden. In such cases the verbal description can be very brief, e.g.:

2. Not all the property within the red edging is wholly owned by the applicant. This is likely to occur with low rise flatted property, such as four in a block, where the applicant owns a floor or part of a floor, and has a right in common along with the other proprietor on which the part of the block comprising their two houses is erected to the solum of that part of the building. The applicant may also own an individual garden plot and there may also be a common drying green and mutual paths. In such cases, the plans registration officer will include the solum of the particular part of the building, the garden plot, drying green, etc., within the red edge. The extent of the flat will normally be tinted and the individual garden plot and pro indiviso rights relevant to that block will also be tinted on the title plan. However, the description in the property section will require to take account of the areas which are not wholly owned by the applicant. This is done by way of restrictive notes.

The tinting method is used when the precise extent method would result in a complex and unclear title plan. No particular guidelines can be given for this type of case, as each must be judged on its own merits. When the tinting method is used, the subjects are not defined by a red edging on the title plan. Each individual component of the subjects is referenced on the plan by tinting or hatching and the verbal description identifies them, for example:

Split villas often lend themselves to this method as the ground tends to comprise a complicated assortment of rights and pertinents attached to the property. (For details see Split villas ).

When an application is for a TP application, there are two dimensions to consider. The parent title plan will be altered to reflect the most recent transaction and the TP will be mapped for the first time. Transfer of part applications are discussed in Transfers of Part.

All rights which fall outwith the red edging should be shown in the ’together with’ format e.g.

together with a right of access over the pathway tinted brown on the title plan

There may be a mixture of rights falling within and outwith the red edging, in which case both the ‘together with’ method and the restrictive notes are used e.g.

It is not uncommon to encounter conveyances which describe the subjects being sold as the original tenement steading under exception of the parts sold. Solicitors often prefer this method of describing a remainder to a particular description of the remainder, because it ensures that the seller is not inadvertently left with the responsibility for a part of the original subjects which may have been overlooked. Where the last flat in a tenement is sold and the agent describes the subjects as the tenement steading under exception of the parts previously sold, the title sheet must reflect the terms of the deed and the property section will be completed as follows:

In straightforward cases, the precise extent method can still be used. The excepted parts are simply not included within the red edge, providing of course that the application contains sufficient information to permit identification on the ordnance map, not only of the original subjects, but also of the excepted parts.

The site plan method can also be used, but the verbal description is usually amplified by the insertion of a schedule of exceptions. If the rights pertaining to the particular flat are specified, then they will be edited into the property section - otherwise the title sheet will remain silent.

Subjects edged red on the Title Plan, comprising the tenement 69 Brown Street, Greenock, PA12 6PS under exception of the parts specified in the Schedule of Exceptions below.

Entry number	Subjects	Feuduty or Ground Annual	Date of Recording or Registration
1	Eastmost house on ground floor	£1.25	GRS (Renfrew) 14 Sept. 1968
2	Westmost house on third floor	£1.10	GRS (Renfrew) 23 Mar. 1974
3	Eastmost house on third floor	£1.10	GRS (Renfrew) 12 Nov. 1979

(The ‘feuduty or ground annual’ column is only used if the amounts are apportionments of an unallocated cumulo payment. If the payments are allocated the column is not used.)

If the title sheet consists of more than one tenement, a separate schedule is required for each.

In some cases, the location of the last house can be identified from the DIR, Form 1 or other information included in the application. When this happens, the identity of the house will be incorporated into the description, viz.

The whole steading will be red edged on the Title Plan and a schedule of exceptions inserted in the property section.

Sometimes, rights are specified for the last flat and should be edited into the property section before the schedule of exceptions. If no rights are narrated, the agent should not be contacted for any details and the title sheet will simply contain no reference to rights.

The date of first registration is the earliest date that any part of the subjects comprising the title was first registered in the land register. If subjects comprise two first registrations being combined (either by formal amalgamation or a first attached application), then the date will be the registration date of the earliest application. In the case of a transfer of part, it will be the date of registration of the parent title.

This will normally be the date of the latest application being given effect to. However if, for example, a search is made of the Register of Inhibitions to a date later than that of the latest application (e.g. to enable an adverse inhibition to be omitted from the title sheet), then the date to which the search was made will be the date that the title sheet is correct to.

This will generally be the same as the date that the title sheet is correct to. However, when the title sheet is being updated to give effect to an application that does not require submission of the land certificate (e.g. registration of a second charge), then this date should not be amended.

The plans officer will insert the interest which the applicant holds the subjects being registered. The entry will be either one or a combination of the following:

Separate interests of superiority and property merit two separate title sheets, unless consolidation has taken place. Where a creditor under an ex facie disposition, applies to register their interest in a property, the interest will be ‘proprietor’. Similarly, where the applicant is the landlord under a long lease, the interest to be entered is that of ‘proprietor’. For further details on the tenant’s interest, see Registration of tenant’s interest

Originally, postcodes were not entered in the property description of the title sheet but, since the concept of wider access has developed, they are now entered whenever a postcode is appropriate for a property (i.e. it is not appropriate to enter a postcode for lands and estates).

Postcodes are entered at intake stage when verifying the address of the subjects. In older applications, it is the legal registration officer’s responsibility to enter it. It should not be necessary for staff in dealings section to add a postcode to the property description, as Data Integrity have added this information to existing registered titles.