QA. My Form P16 Report reveals a discrepancy between title and occupation. Will the Keeper accept a Section 19 Agreement as a means of bringing title and occupation into line?

A. Section 19 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 is stated to apply "where the titles to adjoining lands disclose a discrepancy as to the common boundary". In other words, it applies only where there is a discrepancy between the titles (e.g. where the land is included in the title deed plans for both properties, but the bounding descriptions imply that the titles adjoin), not where there is a discrepancy between title and occupation (e.g. where one proprietor has title and another proprietor has occupation). The Keeper will not accept a Section 19 Agreement where remedial conveyancing is the more appropriate remedy.

QB. My Form P16 Report reveals that the property is not identifiable on the Ordnance Map. This is because the description in the breakaway title - recorded in the 19th century - contains no measurements and refers to adjoining properties merely by the proprietors' names. What action is needed prior to first registration?

A. The Keeper requires sufficient information to enable him to identify all registered titles by reference to the Ordnance Map (see Section 4(2)(a) of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979). He may well therefore insist that your application be accompanied by a plan of the occupied extent. The plan should either form part of the description in the Disposition inducing registration or be docketed and signed separately by the sellers and the purchasers*. However, the Keeper will also have to assess the level of risk in assuming that the prior titles are habile to include the area shown on the plan. In making this assessment, the Keeper will take into account any evidence provided as to (e.g.) the extent of adjoining titles, and the nature and apparent age of the boundary features. Please note that use of such a plan does not of itself guarantee that the whole of the occupied extent will be included in the eventual Land Certificate, either with or without exclusion of indemnity. You may therefore wish to write to Pre-Registration Enquiries Section for advice in such situations, enclosing copies of all of the relevant documentation including a copy of the P16 Report.

*For the Keeper's current policy concerning certified plans see - Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, August 2001, page 15.