An impressive year for Registers of Scotland

Registers of Scotland (RoS) has released its 2015-16 annual report and accounts.

With the Land Registration, etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 – the biggest change in registration legislation in a generation – now fully embedded into its services, the focus at RoS has turned to the organisation’s three-year business transformation programme, completing the land register, and taking on additional registers.

Keeper of the Registers of Scotland Sheenagh Adams said: “The last year has been an exciting time for us with our business transformation. We have been taking advantage of digital technologies that have the potential to transform our services and deliver even better value for our customers and the public as a whole.

“In less than a year we have achieved a great deal and we continue to work with customers to deliver major benefits and make our services more efficient and easier to use.

“Our business transformation will help us complete the land register. A completed land register will be a national asset for Scotland that will allow transaction and property to be easier and faster.

“We also look forward to working with stakeholders as we take on responsibility for further registers, starting with the housing management registers, which include the landlord register, the letting agent register and the property factor register. Our focus on stakeholder engagement is providing a better understanding of our customers’ working practices and ideal solutions.”

RoS accepted more than 600,000 applications on to its registers in 2015-16 – an increase of nearly 35 per cent compared to the previous year. Despite this significant upturn in demand, RoS delivered high standards of service throughout the year, turning around three-quarters of land register applications within 20 days. RoS has also once again substantially improved its green credentials, with consumption for electricity and water decreasing.