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LAND AND HOUSING
the obligatory six months' notice of termination--ended on 30th June 1963.
The Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Ordinance controlled increases in rent of post-war domestic accommodation and expired on 30th June 1966. This ordinance was enacted in 1963, at a time when the supply of new domestic accommodation was short and rents were increasing. It did not affect initial lettings and in general allowed an owner to obtain an increase in rent of not more than 10 per cent subject to the new rent being approved by the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation. During the three years the ordinance was in being, the Commissioner of Rating and Valu- ation dealt with some 10,500 applications for increases of rents. Since the supply of new private accommodation has increased substantially over the last three years, and since there has been a general lowering of rents, applications for increases had, by the end of 1965, dropped to a mere trickle and, as the situation the ordinance was designed to meet had ceased to exist, its retention was no longer considered necessary. However, where a rent was increased under the ordinance, a tenant was given two years' security of tenure. This provision applies notwithstanding the expiration of the ordinance, with the result that certain tenancies will continue to be protected for up to two years from 30th June.
LAND OFFICE
The Land Office, which is a branch of the Registrar General's Department, is responsible for the registration of all instruments affecting land; the settling and registration of conditions of sale, grant and exchange of Crown land; the issue, renewal, variation and termination of Crown leases; the granting of mining leases; and advice to the government generally on matters relating to land.
The system of registration, which was introduced in 1844, is broadly similar to that in the Yorkshire Deeds Registries in England. The Land Registration Ordinance provides that all deeds and in- struments registered under it shall have priority according to their respective dates of registration, and also that deeds and instruments not registered (other than bona fide leases at rack rent for any term not exceeding three years) shall be absolutely null and void as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for