There is no known figure for the total amount of ownerless property in Scotland. Each year, new cases of ownerless property are referred to the King and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer for consideration.
Property can become ownerless in several ways. One of the most common is when a company is dissolved while still owning land or buildings. This can happen when a company is voluntarily dissolved by its directors or struck off the register. When that happens, the property becomes bona vacantia meaning “ownerless goods” and passes to the Crown.
In recent years, the KLTR has changed its approach to dealing with some ownerless properties, particularly where sites may be suitable for regeneration or community reuse. These changes followed recommendations made by the Scottish Land Commission through its work on vacant and derelict land.
What is the KLTR’s role?
The King and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) has the authority to deal with ownerless property in Scotland. The KLTR decides whether and how to apply the Crown rights to ownerless property, however, there is no obligation to take ownership of, transfer, or redevelop these properties. Ownerless property includes the assets of dissolved companies, the estates of heirless individuals and archaeological finds, which are processed through the treasure trove system.
Until three years ago, the KLTR only dealt with ownerless property brought to our attention via referrals. The referrals sometimes resulted from concern about the condition of property. The KLTR consider, on a case-by-case basis, whether and how to deal with the property. One option is through disposal for market to an interested party. The proceeds of ownerless property sales fund the KLTR and a proportion also goes to the main public fund for Scotland.
From policy recommendation to practical action
Recommendations from the Scottish Land Commission encouraged the KLTR to change approach. Their report, designed to bring derelict sites back into productive use recommended that:
“KLTR’s role, powers and functions be reviewed to allow better alignment with regeneration and land reform objectives”
This led to the creation of the KLTR’s Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS).
The Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS)
Under OPTS, if a property can be re-used in the public interest, then the KLTR will consider transferring the property to a community body for £1 plus our costs. The Scheme is designed to support positive re-use of ownerless property and enable community led regeneration. OPTS also aims to support collaboration between public bodies, local authorities and communities.
Successes to date include a derelict former hotel near Falkirk repurposed as a community park and public space, and a strip of land at a former tram depot in Edinburgh providing access for a planned affordable housing development. Land in Airdrie was recently transferred to allow services to supply the new Monklands hospital. These projects demonstrate how ownerless land and property can become a valuable community asset when barriers to reuse are removed.
“The Project is a strong example of collaboration between public bodies. Companies House, the Scottish Land Commission and Registers of Scotland (RoS) were all founding partners, sharing data to identify potentially ownerless properties.”
The Proactive Bona Vacantia Project
Building on the success of the OPTS, the KLTR launched the Proactive Bona Vacantia Project around 18 months ago. Rather than waiting for referrals, the Project actively identifies potentially ownerless properties that could be brought back into use.
The Project is a strong example of collaboration between public bodies. Companies House, the Scottish Land Commission and Registers of Scotland (RoS) were all founding partners, sharing data to identify potentially ownerless properties.
How the project works
The project uses two main data sources – the VDL Register and a Companies House list of UK registered companies dissolved in the past decade. These were searched against the Land Register to identify properties that may now be ownerless. The results are then grouped by local authority area and shared with participating councils.
While the Project launched over a year ago with the VDL data, the data matching properties to dissolved companies only became available in January, so the Project is at an early stage. At present, twelve local authorities are involved, with discussions ongoing with others interested in joining.
Councils check the data to confirm that properties are ownerless, are substantial and that they could be re-used. When these criteria are met a property can be referred.
Working within legal time limits
Under legislation, the KLTR has three years to decide whether to deal with an ownerless property or disclaim the Crown’s interest. We must be mindful of this clock and manage our work to ensure we can make decisions on and deal with ownerless properties within this statutory timeframe. To help manage this, RoS act as our agent on the pProject, sharing the data with local authorities and then holding properties for referral.
While the preference in both OPTS and the Proactive Bona Vacantia Project is for re-use in the public interest, not all properties will be suitable and participating councils have no obligation to take on properties. These can be auctioned or disclaimed, and income from sales will go to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.
What next?
Now that the OPTS has run for two years the KLTR will be undertaking a review to learn from its successes and identify opportunities to improve and refine the Scheme.
The Proactive Bona Vacantia Project will continue, and we look forward to more local authorities joining. The Empty Homes Partnership, the Community Ownership Support Service and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have recently joined to help match organisations to ownerless properties.
The OPTS and Proactive Bona Vacantia Project reflect a broader shift in how ownerless land can support regeneration and public benefit.
OPTS demonstrates that achieving best value is not always disposal for the highest price, in some cases transferring land for community benefit can deliver better regeneration outcomes.
The Proactive Bona Vacantia Project builds on this approach by identifying ownerless land and property, improving understanding of where these properties are located and increasing opportunity for productive re-use across Scotland.
Read more about the work being done to tackle vacant and derelict land.
