A world-class land & property database for Scotland

The paper by Unifi Scotland will be the subject of a major conference on 10th March, where senior lawyers will join deputy first minister John Swinney,keeper of the Registers of Scotland Sheenagh Adams and other experts to discuss how to deliver a world-class service.

The document says that members of Unifi Scotland - a coalition of interested parties include Registers of Scotland and the Law Society of Scotland - support the initiative which they believe will have “a marked effect on the processing and security of property transactions in Scotland”.

The conference will hear how Norway has gone down the route of a one-stop digital database, operated by land and property information agency AMBITA AS. The service allows all information needed to carry out a land and property transaction to be accessed digitally - most within a few minutes.

Trude B-J Margel, Head of Global Enterprise at AMBITA AS, 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.”

Professor Stewart Brymer (pictured) will argue at the conference that a one-stop digital database is achievable in Scotland.

He said: “The Norwegian model 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.”

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, while RICS Scotland, the Improvement Service and Ordnance Survey will also give their perspectives.

A World-Class Digital Land and Property Information Database for Scotland, sponsored by Unifi Scotland and Ordnance Survey, is on 10 March at theNational Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.