You might remember our article a few months ago on ScotLIS, Scotland’s Land Information Service. That article was published in the run-up to the launch in late October 2017. Five months later and the service has grown in both new features and users.
Access to comprehensive digital land and property information
Registers of Scotland (RoS) is in the midst of a digital transformation, which will see the organisation change from being heavily paper-based to one that is digital first. ScotLIS is a lynchpin of this organisational change. It’s an easy to use, map-based online land information service that for the first time allows both professionals and citizens to access comprehensive information about any piece of land and property in Scotland.
It has has been developed in close collaboration with our stakeholders, and this has continued since the official launch day. RoS has liaised with professionals like solicitors, property information search companies, surveyors, plus the people of Scotland to understand how they use both the professional and citizen sides of ScotLIS respectively. Feedback like this is incredibly valuable, and RoS has used it to introduce a range of new features.
New features for property professionals
There are already thousands of professionals users of ScotLIS, and in the past months RoS have introduced several new features based on their feedback. One of the most popular characteristics of ScotLIS is its interactive map functionality. Many stakeholders use this tool to access information on large and complex property titles.
To improve accessibility, the ScotLIS team introduced a full screen functionality, allowing users to see titles in more detail. They also added new search capabilities, allowing users to search the land register not just by title number, but also by address, postcode, name, title number, application number and grid reference.
RoS compile and maintain 19 public registers, and ScotLIS is currently centred on our two main registers, the Land Register of Scotland and the General Register of Sasines. However we’ve already incorporated another register into ScotLIS, the Register of Inhibitions (ROI). The ROI is one of the Chancery and Judicial Registers, and its purpose is to publicise the names of parties who are unable to competently grant deeds in relation to property due to bankruptcy, diligence or insolvency.
With ScotLIS, not only do users enjoy full access to this vital legal tool, but thanks to its intuitive, integrated interface, they can also access the Land Register of Scotland, the General Register of Sasines and the ROI all in one place.