Land-Office-and-Marriage-Registry-Annual-report--1947-1948 — Page 2

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APPENDIX Y.

ANNUAL REPORT

PART I-LAND OFFICE.

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Registration.

1. Registration of instruments affecting land is carried out under the Land Registration Ordinance, 1844, and the total registered in the year under review was 6,391, slightly overtopping the previous record of 6,345 in 1932. It was an increase of more than 50% over 1946-47, itself an active period.

2. Of these instruments 2,855 represented assignments of land as against 1,629 in 1946-47 and 1,277 in 1939 but the total considera- tion on such assignments was $143,640,294.72 as compared with $64,441,664.07 in 1946-47 and $23,236,495.71 in 1939.

3. It was to be expected that mortgages effected since the re-occupation would be more numerous than before the war but although the number of mortgages registered was approximately the same as in 1946-47 and indeed slightly less so far as the number of lots are concerned, the total advanced exceeded $72 million as compared with $41 million in the previous year.

4. Grants of representation were the same as the previous year-202.

5. The total consideration on sales, mortgages, surrenders and miscellaneous land transactions registered in the Land Office amounted to $253,562,305.21 which more than doubled the previous year and compares with a total of just under $50,000,000 in respect of the year 1939.

6. In July and August there was some delay in the registra- tion of assignments, mostly due to the necessity of assessing excess stamp duty. By an informal arrangement made with the Law Society a system of provisional registration was devised which worked satisfactorily, so that by internal organization it was possible wholly to dispose of arrears in the turnover of registration by October.

7. Totals of the instruments registered in the last ten years of which records are available are at Table I, and a monthly and categorical analysis at Table II.

Crown Leases.

8. The issue of Crown Leases came almost to a standstill in view of the shortage of staff. There were certain urgent cases and six were issued as against eighteen the year before but arrears, some of which enured from the pre-war period, remain to be dealt with under reorganization to take place in the succeeding financial year. Particulars of those issued are shown at Table IV and of the totals issued for the last ten years (for which figures are available) at Table I.