LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
On August 1, 1993, the Land Registry became one of the first government departments to operate on a trading fund basis. A trading fund is a financial and accounting arrangement which requires a department, whose services are of a commercial nature, to operate on a commercial basis while remaining a government department. The basic objective is to improve the quality of service to customers.
The Land Registry comprises the Urban Land Registry at the Queensway Government Offices on Hong Kong Island and eight New Territories Land Registries located in Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, North District, Tai Po, Sha Tin, Sai Kung and Islands District. Registration of land documents is effected by means of a memorial form, containing the essential particulars of the document. These particulars are then placed on a register showing the relevant piece of land or property. The registers provide a complete picture of the title to each property, from the grant of the government lease. They are available for search by members of the public on payment of a small fee. The Land Registry keeps the memorials and a complete copy of each registered document, which are also available for search by members of the public on payment of a fee.
For any transaction affecting land, a search of the land registers and records is made to ascertain property ownership and other relevant particulars. During the year, 3 480 033 such public land searches were made and 576 974 land documents were registered throughout the territory, compared with 3 328 390 and 631 849, respectively, in 1993. At the end of the year, there were 1 667 563 property owners, an increase of 86 686 over the previous year.
All land documents presented for registration in the Urban Land Registry are microfilmed, and the particulars of the land transactions are stored in computerised land registers. To improve the efficiency and convenience of the public search services in the urban areas, a new facility, the Direct Access Services (DAS), was introduced in September 1994. Through a computer network, the DAS provide on-line, direct search facilities at the offices of solicitors and other professional firms.
The land registers in the New Territories, presently in book form, are being computerised to provide a more efficient storage, maintenance and retrieval system which would enhance both the land registration and public search services. A data conversion centre has been set up and the conversion exercise, which commenced in May, will take three years to complete.
The Land Registry is also planning to introduce a Document Imaging System (DIS). When the DIS is completed in 1997, all registered land documents will be imaged and stored on optical discs, and can be retrieved and transmitted electronically through the DAS network. Detailed planning and development work is underway.
Hong Kong has a system of land registration which is highly regarded for its efficiency and reliability. The Land Registration Ordinance provides that all land documents registered under it shall have priority according to their respective dates of registration. If a document is registered within one month of execution, priority shall relate back to the date of execution of the document. For charging orders made by the court and pending court actions, priority runs from the day following the date of registration. The ordinance further provides that unregistered instruments, other than bona fide leases at a rack rent for a term not exceeding three years, shall be null and void as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for valuable consideration.
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