LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
document is registered within one month of execution, priority shall relate to the date of execution of the document. Registration is essential to the protection of a land title but does not guarantee it. A Land Titles Bill was introduced into the Legislative Council in November 1994 to replace the existing deeds registration system with one of title registration which will provide certainty of title to property, protect property owners and purchasers, and simplify title-checking procedures. The Legislative Council decided to curtail examination of the Bill in the legislative session which ended in July 1995. The Administration is considering re-introduction of the Bill.
Land Registration statistics are at Appendix 38.
Government Conveyancing
The Legal Advisory and Conveyancing Office of the Lands Department provides professional legal services to the government for all government land trans- actions and associated matters. It is responsible for the issue, renewal, variation and termination of government leases as well as the drafting and completion of conditions of sale, grants and exchanges of government land, the apportionment of government rents and premia, and the recovery of outstanding rents. It provides conveyancing services for the Housing Authority in connection with the sale of flats built under the Home Ownership Scheme, and for the Financial Secretary Incorporated in connection with the extension of non-renewable government leases, the purchase and sale of government accommodation in private developments, mortgages to secure interest-free loans to private schools, the purchase of properties for government staff quarters and group housing schemes for the elderly. It is also responsible for the processing of consent applications which are governed by the rules of the Land Authority' Consent Scheme. During the year, nine applications involving 4 300 residential units in the urban areas were approved and in the New Territories, 25 applications involving 14 076 residential units were approved.
Survey and Mapping
The Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department is responsible for defining and recording land boundaries of all existing and new land developments, providing and maintaining the territory-wide survey control networks, producing maps of the territory in various scales for land administration, engineering and legal purposes and managing a computerised land information system.
Survey control networks covering the whole territory have been established and maintained by the office to provide the necessary horizontal and vertical reference points. Cadastral surveying is one of the most important functions of the Survey and Mapping Office. It provides survey services to support all government land transactions by defining and setting out boundary corners and marking out the limit of all land of sale, grant/regrant or other methods of disposal. The office also maintains a comprehensive record of all leasehold and government land boundaries in the territory. The record is being digitised into the computerised land information system.
The office's mapping coverage of Hong Kong is extensive. The series of maps serving as the foundation of all other mapping is the large-scale (1:1 000) basic topographic series (3 000 sheets). Conversion of this basic series into digital form is completed. Smaller scale maps include the monochrome map series at 1:5 000 and the coloured map series of scales ranging from 1:20 000 to 1:300 000. All topographic
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