Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act 1974

5 Redemption by law of feuduty, ground annual, etc. on transfer of land for valuable consideration

(1) Subject to any agreement made before the commencement of this Act in relation to the redemption of the feuduty exigible in respect of a feu and to subsection (2) below, on the date when entry is taken under an obligation to grant a conveyance of the feu for valuable consideration or under the deed containing such a conveyance (the said date being hereinafter in this section, subject to subsection (2) below, referred to as " the date of redemption "), the feuduty exigible as at the date of redemption shall be deemed to have been redeemed: Provided that this section shall not apply in any case where the date of the obligation to grant a conveyance or of the execution of the deed occurred before the commencement of this Act.

(2) Where the date (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) when entry is taken, as specified in subsection (1) above, is earlier than the date of the obligation there specified or (where there was no such obligation) the execution of the deed there specified, the date of redemption shall be the date of the said obligation or execution as the case may be.

(3) No payment shall be exigible in respect of a feuduty for any period after the date of redemption thereof; but the feu shall continue in force otherwise as if the feuduty were not redeemed.

(4) On the date of redemption, there shall be payable to the superior by the person who was the proprietor of the feu immediately before the date of the obligation specified in subsection (1) above or (where there was no such obligation) the execution of the deed there specified, or by his representatives, such a sum of money (hereinafter in this section referred to as "the redemption money ") as would, if invested in 2£ per cent. Consolidated Stock at the middle market price at the close of business last preceding the date occurring one month before the date of redemption, produce an annual sum equal to the feuduty.

(5) Subject to the provisions of subsections (6) to (8) below, at and after the date of redemption, the redemption money, if it has not been paid to the superior, shall, together with interest thereon from the date of redemption until payment at such rate or rates as may be determined, be secured in favour of the superior, as a real burden on the land subject to the feu, binding on the proprietor of the feu for the time being, in the same manner and subject to the same remedies as the feuduty redeemed.

(6) At any time after the date of the obligation specified in subsection (1) above or (where there was no such obligation) after the date of execution of the deed there specified, the proprietor of the feu for the time being or his agent may give to the superior or his agent a notice of redemption in or as nearly as may be in the form contained in Schedule 2 to this Act; and, subject to subsections (7) and (8) below, at the expiry of the period of two months after the giving of such notice or after the date of redemption, whichever is later, the land subject to the feu shall cease to be burdened by the unpaid redemption money and interest referred to in subsection (5) above, and by any feuduty unpaid in respect of the feu, liability for which has accrued up to and including the date of redemption, and any interest or other payment exigible in respect of that feuduty, and thereafter (subject to the said subsections (7) and (8)) no action shall lie against any person in respect of any sum specified in this subsection, other than—

(a) in the case of the redemption money or interest thereon, against the person who was the proprietor of the feu immediately before the date of the said obligation or of the execution of the said deed, as the case may be, or against his representatives ;

(b) in the case of the said unpaid feuduty or interest or other payment relative thereto, against any person who was liable therefor immediately before the date of redemption, or against his representatives.

(7) If, before the end of the relevant period of two months specified in subsection (6) above, the superior has obtained warrant to cite the defender in an action against any person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) thereof or his representatives for the recovery of any sum for which that person remains liable in terms of those paragraphs, the court may at any time within the said period (whether or not the defender has been cited in the action) order that the land subject to the feu shall, in respect of that sum, continue to be burdened, and that the sum shall continue to be exigible, as specified in subsection (5) above, for such additional period (which the court may by further order extend from time to time if necessary) as is reasonable to enable the superior to recover the said sum; but the superior shall not be entitled to recover any such sum from or at the expense of any person whose liability therefor arose at or after the date specified in relation to such sum in the said paragraph (a) or (b), unless the court is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable to recover such sum from any person who remains liable therefor in terms of that paragraph.

(8) No order under subsection (7) above shall have effect unless an extract thereof has been recorded in the Register of Sasines before the expiry of the relevant period of two months referred to in that subsection or before the expiry of any such existing order.

(9) On receipt of a notice of redemption in terms of subsection (6) above in duplicate, the superior or his agent shall, at the expense of the superior, if so requested return one copy with an acknowledgement thereon subscribed by him.

(10) The deemed redemption of feuduty in accordance with this section shall be binding on all persons having interest: Provided that such redemption shall not prejudice the rights of existing heritable creditors, but the superior shall be liable to indemnify any proprietor of the feu against liability arising after the date of redemption from such rights.

(11) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that this section shall have effect whether or not the obligation to grant a conveyance as aforesaid has been implemented.

(12) Subsections (6) and (7) of section 4 of this Act shall apply in relation to this section as they apply in relation to that section, with the addition in subsection (7), after the words " ground annual", of the words " standard charge ", and the substitution, for the words " stipend or standard charge " , of the words " or stipend "; but in this section " feu " does not include any part of a feu which is subject to a cumulo feuduty, no portion of which has been allocated on that part.

(13) This section shall not apply in any case specified in subsection (1) of section 6 of this Act except to the extent (and subject to the modifications) specified in that section.