Lawyers advocate use of Norwegian digital database model for conveyancing

Trude B-J Margel, head of global enterprise at land and property information agency AMBITA AS, which is owned by the Norwegian government advocates the use of a digital system where all information needed to carry out a land and property transactions can be accessed digitally - most of it within a few minutes.

Ms Margel said: “Doing business quickly and efficiently is the cornerstone of a successful economy - and the ability to carry out land and property transactions in a fast, safe manner is a big part of this.

“The key to success is making the wide range of information needed to carry out such transactions available in one place - as well as making it credible and protected, though easy to access by those who need it.”

AMBITA laid the foundations for success by digitising the Norwegian land registry in the late 1980s, then developing land-related information systems for the property market.

The Scottish government has said it is determined to move forward by learning from other jurisdictions, stating an ambition to digitise the land register by 2024, but looking towards a one-stop digital land and property database as the ultimate goal.

Making information digitally available in one place, and around the clock, has led to further digitisation of property conveyancing in Norway.

Ambita has integrated e-conveyancing between banks, customers and property professionals, reducing the typical transaction period from two or three weeks to a matter of hours.

Professor Stewart Brymer (pictured) has also supported a one-stop digital database for Scotland.

He said: “The Norwegian model, Infoland, has generated global interest as a viable, easily transferrable system.

“It creates a community of interest because suppliers of information - such as councils, the land registry and the mapping authority - are paid to provide accurate, timely information.

“Those who want the information can get it quickly and cheaply - and the whole system operates in a quick, efficient manner to the benefit of the economy.”

A conference on 10 March in Edinburgh will examine how the Scottish legal profession might benefit from the creation of a digital land and property information database.

Ross MacKay, who chairs the Law Society of Scotland’s property law committee, will examine the potential impacts of a one-stop database on property lawyers at the conference.

In addition to senior lawyers, attendees include keeper of the Registers of Scotland, Sheenagh Adams and deputy first minister John Swinney.