Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land — what does it mean for land ownership and control?

It's important those who need to disclose information know their obligations, as not doing so — or providing false or misleading entries — will ultimately be a criminal offence, potentially attracting fines of thousands of pounds.

With that in mind, here's a guide to the RCI: what it includes, who's exempt and what information you need to submit now the register is live.

The RCI's aim

The Scottish Government’s aim is to improve the transparency of land ownership and control in Scotland and the RCI is an integral part of this as it will assist in identifying who people should engage with about land decisions if they cannot identify them by other means.

What does it include?

The RCI introduces new terminology —

• Tenants under a long lease (one granted in excess of 20 years) or owners who have a controlled interest in land will now be registered as a “recorded person”

• Someone who has the right to control dealings with the land, even if they choose not to, or have not exercised control to date, will be registered as an “associate”

Who must disclose information?

Individuals, partnerships, and partners within partnerships who own land need to be included as a recorded person.

Landowners and tenants of registrable leases and trustees will also have a duty to enter their details and are responsible for notifying the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland of any detail changes, including if a partner joins a partnership.

Similarly to the Registers of Scotland, the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland will have the power to correct or amend the RCI or remove an entry if someone is no longer the landowner or tenant or the land.

Exemptions

Powers of attorney, paid professional advisors to an individual landowner, parties to service agreements for land, separation and divorce agreements and guardians appointed under a guardianship order do not have to submit an entry.

The majority of UK companies will not have a duty to submit an entry as their details will already be publicly available on Companies House.

Security declarations

If there is a risk that someone may be subjected to violence, abuse, or intimidation, they can make a security declaration to Registers of Scotland asking their detailed aren't published.

An automatic 30-day ‘freeze’ period will also allow associates or those with controlled interest time to make a security declaration before their information is shown.

The regulations state the Keeper will review the evidence submitted and decide if this request is reasonable. To date, there has been little guidance on the information that the Keeper will require to be submitted with a security declaration; nor as to what the Keeper will deem ‘reasonable'. We expect to see more guidance from Registers of Scotland on security declarations in due course.

What information do I need to submit?

Those who have a duty to submit information to the RCI require to submit —

• The name and address of a recorded person

• A description of the land, including title number where it’s registered

• Details of the recorded person who owns or leases the land, including trustee-owned land

• Name and address of each associate, or — where a security declaration has been made — a copy of the statement

• The date of any notice given to the Keeper

Compliance

Registers of Scotland is not charging a fee at the moment for entering information in the RCI; however, it is likely that following the initial grace period of 12 months for submitting entries that a fee will be introduced.

The grace period will end on 31 March 2023.

Given the potential for financial penalties from next year, it's important that owners, tenants and any other individual involved in the control of land to whom the rules apply, submit their details during this transition period.

If you have any queries regarding the register or your duty to submit information, please contact me.

Meanwhile, you can take a look at our other rural news and views, here. Plus, you can read another piece in our RCI series from my colleague David Scott.