| Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 | ||
| 2003 asp 9 - continued | ||
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| PART 1 | ||
| REAL BURDENS: GENERAL | ||
Meaning and creation | ||
| 1 | The expression "real burden" | |
| (1) A real burden is an encumbrance on land constituted in favour of the owner of other land in that person's capacity as owner of that other land. | ||
| (2) In relation to a real burden- | ||
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| (3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) above, the expression "real burden" includes a personal real burden; that is to say a conservation burden, a rural housing burden, a maritime burden, an economic development burden, a health care burden, a manager burden, a personal pre-emption burden and a personal redemption burden (being burdens constituted in favour of a person other than by reference to the person's capacity as owner of any land). | ||
| 2 | Affirmative, negative and ancillary burdens | |
| (1) Subject to subsection (3) below, a real burden may be created only as- | ||
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| (2) An obligation created as is described in- | ||
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| (3) A real burden may be created which- | ||
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| but only for a purpose ancillary to those of an affirmative burden or a negative burden. | ||
| (4) A real burden created as is described in subsection (3) above is known as an "ancillary burden". | ||
| (5) In determining whether a real burden is created as is described in subsection (1) or (3) above, regard shall be had to the effect of a provision rather than to the way in which the provision is expressed. | ||
| 3 | Other characteristics | |
| (1) A real burden must relate in some way to the burdened property. | ||
| (2) The relationship may be direct or indirect but shall not merely be that the obligated person is the owner of the burdened property. | ||
| (3) In a case in which there is a benefited property, a real burden must, unless it is a community burden, be for the benefit of that property. | ||
| (4) A community burden may be for the benefit of the community to which it relates or of some part of that community. | ||
| (5) A real burden may consist of a right of pre-emption; but a real burden created on or after the appointed day must not consist of- | ||
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| (6) A real burden must not be contrary to public policy as for example an unreasonable restraint of trade and must not be repugnant with ownership (nor must it be illegal). | ||
| (7) Except in so far as expressly permitted by this Act, a real burden must not have the effect of creating a monopoly (as for example, by providing for a particular person to be or to appoint- | ||
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| (8) It shall not be competent- | ||
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| to the effect that a person other than the holder of the burden may waive compliance with, or mitigate or otherwise vary, a condition of the burden. | ||
| (9) Subsection (8) above is without prejudice to section 33(1)(a) of this Act. | ||
| 4 | Creation | |
| (1) A real burden is created by duly registering the constitutive deed except that, notwithstanding section 3(4) of the 1979 Act (creation of real right or obligation on date of registration etc.), the constitutive deed may provide for the postponement of the effectiveness of the real burden to- | ||
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| (2) The reference in subsection (1) above to the constitutive deed is to a deed which- | ||
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| (3) Where the constitutive deed relates, or purports to relate, to the creation of a nameable type of real burden (such as, for example, a community burden), that deed may, instead of employing the expression "real burden", employ the expression appropriate to that type. | ||
| (4) Where the constitutive deed relates to the creation of a community burden, that deed shall nominate and identify the community. | ||
| (5) For the purposes of this section, a constitutive deed is duly registered in relation to a real burden only when registered against the land which is to be the burdened property and (except where there will be no benefited property or the land in question is outwith Scotland) the land which is to be the benefited property. | ||
| (6) A right of ownership held pro indiviso shall not in itself constitute a property against which a constitutive deed can be duly registered. | ||
| (7) This section is subject to sections 73(2) and 90(8) of this Act and is without prejudice to section 6 of this Act. | ||
| 5 | Further provision as respects constitutive deed | |
| (1) It shall not be an objection to the validity of a real burden (whenever created) that- | ||
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| (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, such specification may be by making reference to another document the terms of which are not reproduced in the deed; but for reference to be so made the other document must be a public document (that is to say, an enactment or a public register or some record or roll to which the public readily has access). | ||
| 6 | Further provision as respects creation | |
| (1) A real burden is created by registering against the land which is to be the burdened property a deed which- | ||
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| (2) "Imports" in subsection (1)(b) above means imports into itself from a deed of conditions; and importation in, or as near as may be in, the form set out in schedule 1 to this Act shall suffice in that regard. | ||
| (3) A right of ownership held pro indiviso shall not in itself constitute a property against which a deed such as is mentioned in subsection (1) above can be duly registered. | ||
| (4) This section is without prejudice to section 4 of this Act. | ||
Duration, enforceability and liability | ||
| 7 | Duration | |
| Subject to any enactment (including this Act) or to any rule of law, the duration of a real burden is perpetual unless the constitutive deed provides for a duration of a specific period. | ||
| 8 | Right to enforce | |
| (1) A real burden is enforceable by any person who has both title and interest to enforce it. | ||
| (2) A person has such title if an owner of the benefited property; but the following persons also have such title- | ||
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| (3) A person has such interest if- | ||
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| (4) A person has title to enforce a real burden consisting of- | ||
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| only if the owner of the benefited property. | ||
| (5) In subsection (2)(b) above, "non-entitled spouse" and "occupancy rights" shall be construed in accordance with section 1 of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 (c.59) (right of spouse without title to occupy matrimonial home). | ||
| (6) Subsections (2) to (5) above do not apply in relation to a personal real burden. | ||
| 9 | Persons against whom burdens are enforceable | |
| (1) An affirmative burden is enforceable against the owner of the burdened property. | ||
| (2) A negative burden or an ancillary burden is enforceable against- | ||
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| 10 | Affirmative burdens: continuing liability of former owner | |
| (1) An owner of burdened property shall not, by virtue only of ceasing to be such an owner, cease to be liable for the performance of any relevant obligation. | ||
| (2) A person who becomes an owner of burdened property (any such person being referred to in this section as a "new owner") shall be severally liable with any former owner of the property for any relevant obligation for which the former owner is liable. | ||
| (3) A new owner who incurs expenditure in the performance of any relevant obligation for which a former owner of the property is liable may recover an amount equal to such expenditure from that former owner. | ||
| (4) For the purposes of subsections (1) to (3) above, "relevant obligation" means any obligation under an affirmative burden which is due for performance; and such an obligation becomes due- | ||
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| 11 | Affirmative burdens: shared liability | |
| (1) If a burdened property as respects which an affirmative burden is created is divided (whether before or after the appointed day) into two or more parts then, subject to subsections (2) and (4) below, the owners of the parts- | ||
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| (2) "Part" in subsection (1) above does not include a part to which the affirmative burden cannot relate. | ||
| (3) In the application of subsection (1) above to parts which are flats in a tenement, the reference in paragraph (b) of that subsection to the areas of the respective parts shall be construed as a reference to the floor areas of the respective flats. | ||
| (4) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above shall not apply if, in the constitutive deed, it is provided that liability as between (or among) the owners of the parts shall be otherwise than is provided for in that paragraph; and paragraph (b) of that subsection shall not apply if, in the constitutive deed or in the conveyance effecting the division, it is provided that liability as between (or among) them shall be otherwise than is provided for in that paragraph. | ||
| (5) If two or more persons own in common a burdened property as respects which an affirmative burden is created then, unless the constitutive deed otherwise provides- | ||
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Division of benefited or burdened property | ||
| 12 | Division of a benefited property | |
| (1) Where part of a benefited property is conveyed, then on registration of the conveyance the part conveyed shall cease to be a benefited property unless in the conveyance some other provision is made, as for example- | ||
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| (2) Different provision may, under subsection (1) above, be made in respect of different real burdens. | ||
| (3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, any such provision as is referred to in that subsection shall- | ||
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| (4) Subsection (1) above does not apply where- | ||
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| 13 | Division of a burdened property | |
| Where part of a burdened property is conveyed (whether before or after the appointed day), then on registration of the conveyance the part retained and the part conveyed shall separately constitute burdened properties unless the real burden cannot relate to one of the parts, in which case that part shall, on that registration, cease to be a burdened property. | ||
Construction | ||
| 14 | Construction | |
| Real burdens shall be construed in the same manner as other provisions of deeds which relate to land and are intended for registration. | ||
Extinction | ||
| 15 | Discharge | |
| (1) A real burden is discharged as respects a benefited property by registering against the burdened property a deed of discharge granted by or on behalf of the owner of the benefited property. | ||
| (2) In subsection (1) above, "discharged" means discharged- | ||
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| 16 | Acquiescence | |
| (1) Where- | ||
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| (2) Where the period of twelve weeks following the substantial completion of an activity has expired as mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) of subsection (1)(c) above, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, that the person by whom the real burden was, at the time in question, enforceable (or where a burden is enforceable by more than one person, each of those persons) was, or ought to have been, aware of the carrying on of the activity and did not object as mentioned in that sub-paragraph. | ||
| 17 | Further provision as regards extinction where no interest to enforce | |
| Where at any time a real burden is breached but at that time no person has an interest to enforce it in respect of the breach, the burden shall, to the extent of the breach, be extinguished. | ||
| 18 | Negative prescription | |
| (1) Subject to subsection (5) below, if- | ||
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| then, subject to subsection (2) below, the burden shall, to the extent of the breach, be extinguished on the expiry of that period. | ||
| (2) Subject to subsections (5) and (6) below, where, in relation to a real burden which consists of- | ||
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| the owner of the burdened property fails to comply with an obligation to convey (or, as the case may be, to offer to convey) the property (or part of the property) and paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above is satisfied, the burden shall be extinguished in relation to the property (or part) on the expiry of the period mentioned in the said paragraph (b). | ||
| (3) Sections 9 and 10 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.52) (which define the expressions "relevant claim" and "relevant acknowledgement" for the purposes of sections 6, 7 and 8A of that Act) shall apply for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) above as those sections apply for the purposes of sections 6, 7 and 8A of that Act but subject to the following modifications- | ||
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| (4) Section 14 of the said Act of 1973 (which makes provision as respects the computation of prescriptive periods) shall apply for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) above as that section applies for the purposes of Part I of that Act except that paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of that section shall for the purposes of those subsections be disregarded. | ||
| (5) In relation to a breach occurring before the appointed day, subsections (1) and (2) above apply with the substitution in paragraph (b) of subsection (1), for the words "period of five years beginning with the breach", of the words "appropriate period". | ||
| (6) In the case of a right of pre-emption constituted as a rural housing burden, subsection (2) above shall apply with the modification that for the words "the burden shall be extinguished in relation to the property (or part) on" there shall be substituted "it shall not be competent to commence any action in respect of that failure after". | ||
| (7) The reference, in subsection (5) above, to the "appropriate period" is to whichever first expires of- | ||
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| 19 | Confusio not to extinguish real burden | |
| A real burden is not extinguished by reason only that- | ||
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Termination | ||
| 20 | Notice of termination | |
| (1) Subject to section 23 of this Act, if at least one hundred years have elapsed since the date of registration of the constitutive deed (whether or not the real burden has been varied or renewed since that date), an owner of the burdened property, or any other person against whom the burden is enforceable, may, after intimation under section 21(1) of this Act, execute and register, in (or as nearly as may be in) the form contained in schedule 2 to this Act, a notice of termination as respects the real burden. | ||
| (2) It shall be no objection to the validity of a notice of termination that it is executed or registered by a successor in title of the person who has given such intimation; and any reference in this Act to the "terminator" shall be construed as a reference to- | ||
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| (3) Subsections (1) and (2) above do not apply in relation to- | ||
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| (4) The notice of termination shall- | ||
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| (5) Any date may be specified under paragraph (d) of subsection (4) above provided that it is a date not less than eight weeks after intimation is last given under subsection (1) of the said section 21 (intimation by affixing being taken, for the purposes of this subsection, to be given when first the notice is affixed). | ||
| (6) Where a property is subject to two or more real burdens, it shall be competent to execute and register a single notice of termination in respect of both (or all) the real burdens. | ||
| 21 | Intimation | |
| (1) A proposal to execute and register a notice of termination shall be intimated- | ||
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| (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, such intimation may be given- | ||
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| (3) Such intimation shall, except where it is impossible to do so, be given by the means described in subsection (2)(a) above if it is given- | ||
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| (4) An advertisement giving intimation under subsection (2)(c) above shall- | ||
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| (5) The terminator shall provide a person with a copy of the proposed notice of termination (completed as is mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above and with the explanatory note referred to in that subsection) if so requested by that person. | ||
| (6) A person- | ||
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| (7) Section 184 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (c.8) (planning permission not needed for advertisements complying with regulations) applies in relation to a notice affixed in compliance with subsection (2)(b) above as that section applies in relation to an advertisement displayed in accordance with regulations made under section 182 of that Act (regulations controlling display of advertisements). | ||
| 22 | Oath or affirmation before notary public | |
| (1) Before submitting a notice of termination for registration, the terminator shall swear or affirm before a notary public that, to the best of the terminator's knowledge and belief, all the information contained in the notice is true and that section 21 of this Act has been complied with. | ||
| (2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, if the terminator is- | ||
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| and any reference in that subsection to a terminator shall be construed accordingly. | ||
| 23 | Prerequisite certificate for registration of notice of termination | |
| (1) A notice of termination shall not be registrable unless, after the renewal date, there is endorsed on the notice (or on an annexation to it referred to in an endorsement on it and identified, on the face of the annexation, as being the annexation so referred to) a certificate executed by a member of the Lands Tribunal, or by their clerk, to the effect that no application in relation to the proposal to execute and register the notice has been received under section 90(1)(b) (and (4)) of this Act or that any such application which has been received- | ||
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| (2) At any time before endorsement under subsection (1) above, a notice of termination, whether or not it has been submitted for such endorsement, may be withdrawn, by intimation in writing to the Lands Tribunal, by the terminator; and it shall not be competent to endorse under that subsection a notice in respect of which such intimation is given. | ||
| 24 | Effect of registration of notice of termination | |
| (1) Subject to subsection (2) below, a notice of termination, when registered against the burdened property, extinguishes the real burden in question wholly or as the case may be to such extent as may be described in that notice. | ||
| (2) A notice of termination registrable by virtue of a certificate under paragraph (b) of section 23(1) of this Act shall not, on being registered, extinguish a real burden which is the subject of an application disclosed by the certificate in so far as that burden- | ||
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| but if under that section a further certificate is endorsed on the notice (or on an annexation to the notice) the notice may be registered again, the effect of the later registration being determined by reference to the further certificate rather than to the certificate by virtue of which the notice was previously registered. | ||
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