This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Property ownership simplified
21/11/2002
Scotland is to get a simplified framework for property
ownership with the abolition of feudal tenure.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace has revealed that on 28
November 2004, the feudal system will finally disappear.
Property in Scotland will then be owned outright under a
system of simple land ownership. Feudal superiors will no
longer be able to enforce feudal conditions or to be paid feu
duties.
This marks the completion of the process begun by the
Abolition of Feudal Tenure (Scotland) Act 2000.
Mr Wallace also announced that a transitional period in
which superiors will have to act in order to preserve certain
valuable rights, such as restrictions on the use of property
for anything other than residential purposes, will begin in
autumn 2003.
The Title Conditions Bill will modernise and simplify the
law relating to conditions and burdens on land contained in
title deeds.
The Bill will:
- Give Scotland a simplified framework for the ownership
of property in Scotland
- Provide a majority rule system for communities where
the title deeds do not provide a decision-making mechanism
for the management and maintenance of common property
- Help make the property registers more transparent and
easy to use
- Make it easier for property owners to remove
restrictions on the use of their property
- Complete the process of feudal abolition.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace said:
"I am delighted to introduce this Bill which will modernise
the system of land ownership in Scotland and allow the feudal
system to be abolished.
"We are replacing a system which is old-fashioned and
oppressive with one which is clear, modern and fair. In the
autumn next year we intend to start the transition to the new
system, and on 28 November 2004 the change will be complete.
That will be the appointed day on which the feudal system will
finally come to an end in Scotland."
The Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill completes the reforms
of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. The
two pieces of legislation are very closely related and they
will be commenced at the same time.
Land which was previously held under feudal tenure will then
be absorbed into the system of ordinary, outright
ownership.
Title conditions affect most land in Scotland. They are
imposed on land in the relevant title deeds almost invariably
when it is first sold.
The conditions form part of the agreement of sale: they are
stipulated by the first seller and are accepted by subsequent
buyers who should be advised of their content by their legal
advisers.
The conditions may, for example, oblige successive owners to
contribute to the cost of a service or to maintain the property
or they may be prohibited from carrying out certain activities
on the property.
This private regulation of land ownership is parallel to,
and separate from, the public regulation of land, which
operates through planning and environmental legislation.
The planning system does not, however, provide the same
degree of control achieved by title conditions. For example,
planning law does not oblige owners to maintain their own
property. There are systems of private regulation of land (in
differing forms) in England, the United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, as well as across continental
Europe.
The Title Conditions Bill was introduced to Parliament on 6
June and has been considered by the Justice 1 Committee. The
witnesses and the Committee's Report have all been broadly in
favour of the principles of the Bill. It is hoped that the Bill
will receive Royal Assent by early spring 2003.