Since 1979, when the new Land Register opened, Scotland has been on a quest to improve the transparency of its land ownership. 1979 saw the first crucial step in this, with the opening of a map-based register, designed gradually to phase out Scotland’s 1617-established deed-based register. The process acquired new significance with the re-birth of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and, last month, momentum was sustained with the publishing of the Scottish Government’s "Improving transparency in land ownership in Scotland: a consultation on controlling interests in land".