Title deeds for an Edinburgh flat: roof shares, gardens and common areas
A plain-English guide to the title sheet, burdens and questions to ask your solicitor about shared repairs and outside space.
Ask your solicitor to explain what you are buying and what you must maintain. An attractive garden or a tidy shared stair is a reason to ask good questions, not an answer about ownership. Registers of Scotland: title documents explains that title documents are official property records and include a title sheet and title plan.
What is in a title sheet?
Registers of Scotland describes four sections:
- Property: the description of the property or land and associated rights.
- Proprietorship: the current registered proprietor and any special ownership arrangements.
- Securities: details of mortgages over the property.
- Burdens: obligations on the owner, which can include roof-repair shares, common-area use and maintenance, boundary walls and restrictions on use.
You do not need to become a conveyancer. Our suggestion is to ask for a plain-English summary of the parts that affect your plans and budget, with unclear wording resolved before you rely on it.
Four common-repair questions to take to your solicitor
mygov.scot: responsibility for tenement repairs says the deeds should explain maintenance responsibilities, how decisions are made, how costs are split and how they are paid. Turn those headings into a checklist:
- Which parts am I responsible for, and which are shared?
- How are decisions about those parts made?
- What share of each kind of repair would I pay?
- How is payment organised?
Ask for the rule that applies to your flat and the particular work. A simple equal split may be a useful illustration, but it is not a substitute for checking the documents. Keep any answer alongside the repair estimate rather than relying on a verbal “everyone pays a share”.
What if the deeds are silent or unclear?
mygov.scot says the Tenement Management Scheme can be used if the deeds do not say, or are unclear about, your responsibilities. Ask your solicitor how this applies to the particular gap. Our Tenements Act guide introduces the scheme; it does not interpret your own deeds.
Check gardens and other outside space
Registers of Scotland says the property section describes the property and associated rights, while the title plan shows its extent and boundaries. If a garden, back court or access route matters to you, ask your solicitor to show where it is dealt with in the documents and explain the rights and obligations. Do not assume a space belongs exclusively to the flat because you saw it during the viewing.
Write down the question in concrete terms: “Can I use this space, who maintains it, and is that use shared?” Take the same approach to access and any intended changes. This is a request for an address-specific answer, not a general rule about Edinburgh gardens.
Keep title checks separate from the street lookup
Use a page such as Dean Terrace to start your area and heritage research. It does not show the flat’s title documents. Registers of Scotland recommends legal advice if you struggle to understand your title sheet; our checklist is there to help you prepare for that conversation.
Put the answers in one place
Use the flat buyer’s checklist to prepare your questions, and save streets in your buyer pack. The LBTT calculator helps with purchase-tax planning; the shared repairs calculator illustrates supported repair-cost splits. Neither replaces advice about your own flat.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-English summary of official sources to help you know what to ask. Every property is different, so check the details with your solicitor, surveyor or the council before you rely on it.
Related
The Tenements Act and cost sharing · What a Home Report does not tell you · Factor fees and repair funds · Browse postcode areas · Search a street
Official sources
Checked 7 November 2026. Registers of Scotland: title documents · mygov.scot: responsibility for tenement repairs. Our questions and checklists are practical suggestions, not legal or surveying advice.