Conveyancing - What Happened in 2026?

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For the thirty-sixth successive year this seminar will provide a comprehensive and indispensable review of the cases and statutory developments during the past 12 months which affect conveyancing law and practice. 

2026 has been a busy year in the courts. The right to store fuel was recognised for the first time as a servitude. Other decisions on servitudes covered matters such as creation by prescription, ancillary rights, and obstruction. There was further authority on interest to enforce real burdens as well as on enforceability and on the extinction of real burdens by acquiescence. On leases, the courts considered whether a notice to quit could be served by an unconfirmed executor of the landlord, whether a trading name could be used in a lease notice, and whether a pre-irritancy notice was waived by the subsequent actings of the landlord. There was Inner House authority on the repairing obligations of tenants at the end of a lease. The first appeals against the refusal to grant a licence for a short-term let were heard and were unsuccessful. The grant of a standard security was held not to supersede the loan agreement. The courts continued to engage with boundary disputes and positive prescription, and there was new consideration of the requirements for a habile title. Errors made on first registration, and the consequent claims for rectification of the Land Register, featured in numerous decisions of the Lands Tribunal. Other matters to attract the attention of the courts included missives, options to buy, residential leases, breach by property factors of the Code of Conduct, variation and discharge of title conditions, professional negligence, gable walls, common good, and the community right to buy. 

Legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament with a bearing on conveyancing included the Contract (Formation and Remedies) (Scotland) Act 2026, the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Act 2026, and the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act 2026.

All these and other developments in the law will be discussed and evaluated during the seminar. There will also be a special Q&A session via webinar in which we will answer questions submitted live or in writing, as well as deal with topics which we did not have time to cover in the main seminar. As always, a substantial set of materials will give the full text of the talks and will also list and summarise all cases and statutory material from 2026. Each delegate* will receive a copy of the revised materials when published in book form in the spring of 2027. 

*Registered at the standard fee rate. 

Click here to read the reviews from last year's seminar.

Speakers

Kenneth Reid, Professor Emeritus of Scots Law, George Gretton, Lord President Reid Professor of Law Emeritus, and Andrew Steven, Professor of Property Law, all at the University of Edinburgh.

Chaired by Alan Barr, partner at Brodies LLP and Honorary Fellow of the Law School, University of Edinburgh   

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

The learning outcomes and objectives are that by the end of the seminar delegates will have (i) a sound knowledge and understanding of all major developments in Conveyancing over the last 12 months; (ii) an appreciation of how these developments could or should influence their practice; and (iii) an indispensable set of source materials for easy reference following the seminar.