Conveyancing - What Happened in 2021?

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For the thirty-first successive year, Professor Kenneth Reid and Professor George Gretton will be giving a comprehensive and indispensable review of the cases and statutory developments during the past 12 months which affect conveyancing law and practice. This year they will be joined by Professor Andrew Steven. The seminar will be chaired by Alan Barr, Partner, Brodies LLP.

On 1 April 2022 the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021 will come into force. As of that date it will be compulsory to register in a new register – the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land (the ‘RCI’) – information as to the ownership and control of land in certain cases where the owner or tenant is, for example, a partnership, a trust or an overseas entity. A full account will be given of this complex new legislation, which affects everyone involved in conveyancing.

The courts too were busy in 2021. There was new authority on the interpretation of real burdens, and on the interaction between the Tenement Management Scheme and the title deeds of tenements. Gates featured prominently in the cases on servitudes: when can gates be erected across a right of way? and can a right to lock a gate form part of a servitude? There was also fresh guidance on whether a right of access over a road includes access over the verge. On land registration, the First Division thought that the burdens section of a title sheet might restrict the rights apparently conferred by the property section. And a different decision of the First Division contemplated the loss of property rights as a result of judicial rectification of a deed of conditions.

Leases were, as usual, well-represented, with cases covering topics such as notices to quit, the tenant’s repairing obligations (how much? were extraordinary repairs covered?), as well as whether there could be an implied term requiring premises to comply with the statutory provisions on fire safety. Other matters to attract the attention of the courts in 2021 included pre-emptions, wayleaves, variation and discharge of title conditions, competition of title, standard securities, professional negligence, and family property. 

All these and other developments in the law will be discussed and evaluated during the seminar. This year again, sadly, we think we cannot be with you in person but we are confident that we can recreate the ‘live’ experience over Zoom. This also allows us to give you a choice of dates, and to add on as an extra Q&A session 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 2021. Each delegate registered at the standard fee will receive a copy of the revised materials when published in book form in the spring of 2022.

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