The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced new amendments to the CML Lenders’ Handbook for Scotland, which sets out instructions to conveyancers acting for mortgage lenders.

The new changes, agreed by the Handbook Oversight Committee on 23 April, will take effect from 8 June 2015.

The amendments are the culmination of joint work started in September 2013 with the Law Society of Scotland to identify improvements.

The handbook is being amended to include the introduction of the Land and Buildings Transactions Tax in Scotland, replacing stamp duty.

It is also being brought up to date to reflect changes in Scotland due to the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012, which came into effect in December 2014.

In addition, the section on good and marketable title has been revised in Scotland to reflect changes made to the wording already amended in the Handbook for England and Wales.

The new amendments follow on from previous amendments recently put into practice in December 2014.