Planning Circular 6/2011: Compulsory purchase orders

APPENDIX E: Land Referencing

E1. The authority should carry out thorough land referencing to make sure that, as far as possible, it has identified all interests in the land that it seeks to acquire. This should include searching the Land Register of Scotland and/or the Register of Sasines, as appropriate. However, it should also visit the site and enquire locally ⁶⁰ . The authority may also find it helpful to consult with community councils and any local history or amenity groups.

E2. The authority should identify all of the following:

• Owners
• Lessees
• Occupiers
• those with access rights over the land
• the holder of any personal real burden that affects the land (if the real burden will be extinguished or varied on registration of a conveyance in implement of the order ⁶¹ )
• the owner of any land which is a benefited property ⁶² in relation to any of the land (if registration of a conveyance in implement of the order would vary or extinguish the title condition in question)
• the owners' association of the development in question (if a development management scheme applies in respect of any of the land and the scheme would be disapplied on registration of a conveyance in implement of the order)

Unknown owners, lessees or occupiers

E3. In some cases the authority may not be able to ascertain the name and/or address of an owner, lessee or occupier. In this situation special procedures apply for completing the order and serving notice of the order ⁶³ . However, before using these procedures the authority must make reasonable inquiry. What constitutes reasonable inquiry may differ from case to case. The authority should consider each case on its merits. Some inquiries that the authority might make are listed below. Not all of these will be suitable in every case:

• advertising in a local newspaper to seek information about the last known owner
• fixing a notice to the relevant land to seek information about the last known owner
• enquiring locally (including asking adjoining owners, solicitors and estate agents)
• contacting the solicitor who presented the last recorded title to the land for registration in the Register of Sasines or Land Register
• examining the electoral roll
• consulting the District Valuer
• checking the records of the local authority housing department
• checking Council Tax records
• examining the title deeds of adjoining ground
• consulting Royal Mail
• in the case of a company, examining the Register of Companies
• in the case of a deceased person, enquiring at the Local Sheriff Court Commissary Department, failing which, advertising in the Scots Law Times and other journals
• where the authority believes trustees have an interest in the land, advertising in the Scots Law Times and other journals
• in the case of a foreign national, checking with the nationalities branch of the appropriate Police force
• where a business has recently closed down, checking with Utilities providers

Benefited proprietors for servitude rights

E4. The authority should consider visiting the site and enquiring locally to identify the owners of benefited properties for any servitude rights over the land, such as a right of access ⁶⁴ .

Benefited proprietors

E5. In many cases it will be difficult, if not impossible for the authority to identify all benefited proprietors in respect of other title conditions with any certainty. In such cases it can serve notice of the making of the order on benefited proprietors by advertising and other means, rather than sending ⁶⁵ . If the authority chooses to serve notice in one of these other ways it need not identify the names and addresses of all benefited proprietors.