PUBLIC RECORDS
The Registrar General's Department which was established under the Registrar General (Establishment) Ordinance, 1949, and has its offices on the ground floor of the Supreme Court Building, incorporates the Land Office and Deeds Registry where the Colony's records of title to land are maintained, the Registry of Marriages, the Companies Registry, the Trade Marks and Patents Registry, and the Offices of the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy and the Official Trustee.
Land Office
The principal function of the Land Office is the registration of instruments affecting land. Legally, it is a registry of deeds, not of title, but due to the form in which the records have been main- tained over a long period, great reliance is in practice placed on the accuracy of the land Registers, as showing the devolution of title.
All land in private ownership is held under lease from the Crown. The terms vary considerably. Originally, the normal term of lease was 999 years, and much of the most valuable land in Victoria is held on such leases. Except in New Kowloon and the New Territories, the normal term nowadays is 75 years, renewable for a further 75. In New Kowloon and the New Territories the normal term is 75 years from 1st July 1898, renewable for a further 24 years less the last three days, this limitation being required because these areas are merely held on lease from China for a period of 99 years expiring on 30th June 1997. In the last century, many leases of lots in Kowloon were issued for non-renewable terms of 75 years, and the first leases of this type, 31 in number with terms commencing in 1875, expired in 1950.
The large influx of population has resulted in a strong demand for land and houses, and this in turn has brought about a great increase in Land Office work. The total of 6,716 instruments registered in 1950 is slightly less than the record total of 6,868 for the previous year. Some idea of the value of the property involved may be gathered from the fact that the total of the considerations. expressed in instruments registered in the financial year 1949-50 was over $284,000,000. From the beginning of 1950 there was a gradual trend towards lower property values, and in the later months of the year this developed into a fairly steep decline. As is to be expected in a commercial community such as Hong Kong a vast amount of money is borrowed on mortgages of land. These are mostly at high rates of interest, the usual rate for private mortgages being between $15 and $17 per $1,000 per month, i.e. between 18% and 20% per annum.
In addition to the registration of instruments affecting land, the Land Office issues Crown leases (173 in 1950), and deals with sales, exchanges, surrenders and resumption of land.
Marriage Registry
Marriage in the Colony is governed by the provisions of the Marriage Ordinance, 1875, which applies to all marriages solemnized here except non-Christian customary marriages. Under this Or-
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