Property law

The Scottish Law Commission held a consultation on their draft Leases (Automatic Continuation etc.) (Scotland) Bill under their Aspects of Leases project.

• Read the consultation on the Scottish Law Commission's website
• Read our response

The Society has responded to Registers of Scotland 2020 Digital Submissions Consultation, which seeks views on whether the ability to submit certain applications to the Keeper digitally, which has been in place on an emergency basis since April and May 2020, should be made available permanently.

The consultation details are available on the RoS website. 

Read our response. 

The Society has responded to the Registers of Scotland Fee Review 2020 Consultation.

The consultation, which sets outs proposals for a new statutory fee structure, is available to read on the RoS website.

Read our response

Following the appointment of Baroness Dianne Hayter as Chair of the Code of Practice Steering Group, the consultation on the future overarching Code of Practice for Residential Property Agents opened on Monday 20 July 2020 and closed on Friday 4 September. 

• You can find out more about the consultation on the RICS website
• Read the draft Code of Practice
• Read our response to the consultation

The Scottish Government launched a consultation to outline proposals aimed at tackling the issue of improving energy efficiency and reducing the demand for heat in owner occupied homes, which will play an important part in helping to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and fuel poverty.

The consultation asked for views on the detail of setting the energy efficient standard for owner occupied homes in Scotland. This includes what the standard should be, when it should be introduced and how compliance with the standard could be checked and enforced. 

• See the full consultation on the Scottish Government's website
• Read the Law Society's response

The Property Law Committee and Property & Land Law Reform Sub-committee provided written evidence to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee’s on the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations).

• View the Subordinate Legislation on the Scottish Parliament's website
• Read our written evidence

Our Property Law Committee submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Local Government and Communities Committee in advance of their meeting on 26 February 2020.

• Law Society of Scotland's written evidence February 2020

Our Property Law Committee welcomes the opportunity to consider and respond to the Scottish Government consultation: The Public Services Reform (Registers of Scotland) Order 2020. 

• The Law Society of Scotland's response January 2020

The Scottish Law Commission has issued a discussion paper which considers pre-default matters such as the creation and transfer of heritable securities and the obligations which they can secure.

• View the discussion paper on the Scottish Law Commission website
• View the Law Society of Scotland's response here (October 2019)

The UK Government has issued a consultation on the Redress for purchasers of new build homes and the New Homes Ombudsman.

• View the consultation on the GOV.UK website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (August 2019)

Graham Simpson MSP has issued a proposal for a Bill to establish standard missives for the sale of new-build homes, including redress for purchasers in respect of defects in construction.

• View the proposal on the Scottish Parliament's website
• View the Law Society of Scotland's response here (June 2019)

The Scottish Law Commission (SLC) has issued a consultation on its draft Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill. If enacted, the draft Bill would amend the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 to give effect to the recommendations in the SLC's forthcoming Report on Section 53 of that Act.

• View the consultation on the SLC website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (February 2019)

The Scottish Government has issued a consultation on the proposals in the draft regulations and on the proposed implementation of the new Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land.

• View the consultation on the Scottish Government's website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (November 2018)

The Scottish Law Commission (SLC) has issued a discussion paper considering issues relating to the termination of leases.

• View the consultation on the SLC website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (September 2018)

The Scottish Law Commission (SLC) has issued a discussion paper on Section 53 of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.

• View the paper on the SLC website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (August 2018)

The Scottish Parliament's Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee has issued a call for evidence on the proposed Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

• View the consultation on the Scottish Parliament website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (August 2018)

The UK Government has issued a consultation on improving redress in the housing sector, including exploring the option of a single housing ombudsman.

• View the consultation on the GOV.UK website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (April 2018)

Registers of Scotland is developing a variety of new digital services and is consultating on the detailed proposals for the introduction of these new services and the necessary changes to the Land Register Rules that would be required to facilitate them. The consultation also sets out further proposals for simplifying and streamlining the land registration application form to make it easier to use.

• View the consultation on the Scottish Government website
• The Law Society of Scotland's response (February 2017)