Annual Report 2000 - 01

The Land Registrar is the head of the Land Registry. He is underpinned by four directorate officers, including the Registry Manager, the Deputy Principal Solicitor, the Business Manager and the Change Manager. The department is staffed by the Land Registration Officer Grade, a four-tier departmental grade, by a substantial number of general grades staff, and by a selection of executive and professional grade officers.


The Land Registry is organised into ten functional divisions:

1. Legal Services
2. Urban Registration
3. New Territories
4. Search and Technical Services
5. General Support Services
6. Management and Customer Services
7. Business Development
8. Financial Services
9. Change Management
10. Information Technology

The major services provided by the Land Registry are:

• registration of land documents;
• search of land registers and records;
• supply of copies of land records; and
• certification of copies of land records.

In the financial year 1 April 2000 - 31 March 2001, a total of 652,425 land documents were lodged for registration, a decrease of 3.0% compared with the previous year. About 2,412 documents were registered in each working day.

86,214 (13.2%) of the documents lodged for registration in 2000/2001 were Sale and Purchase Agreements of building units. The number of these Agreements is generally regarded as a key indicator of the level of activity in the property market.

3,668,523 searches of land registers and records were made in 2000/2001, a 3.4% decrease compared with the previous year. About 13,560 searches were handled in each working day. Nearly 89% of the searches were conducted by customers in the private sector, mostly solicitors' firms and estate agents.

The on-line land search Direct Access Services (DAS), introduced since 15 September 1994, now accounts for 77.7% of searches of land registers and records. Demand for over the counter services continues to decline, but at a much slower rate than in earlier years.

* DAS was first introduced for search of urban properties since September 1994 and extended to New Territories properties phase by phase from March 1995 to April 1997.

Total number of Subscribers as at 31.3.2001: 526



In 2000/2001, the Land Registry provided 477,416 sets of imaged copies and photocopies of land documents to the customers through counter searches and remote orders made via the DAS.

The Land Registry certified 68,199 copies of land records in 2000/2001, which was 20.0% less than the previous year.

There had been a 5.3% increase in the number of registered property owners in 2000/2001. Registered property owners include companies as well as individuals.

The Land Registry's performance pledges for its major services were first launched in August 1993. These pledges are reviewed annually with new and enhanced pledges publicised each year. An information leaflet is published each year to announce any revised or enhanced pledges. The information leaflet 'Performance Pledge 2000/2001' was released on 21 July 2000.

To keep customers better informed of the Registry's performance and to give due recognition to the staff, Performance Pledge Notice Boards have been installed in the public areas of each regional office displaying the performance pledges, actual achievement levels and estimated service delivery times of that particular office.

The Registry has achieved and exceeded all its performance pledges in 2000/2001. A table showing the target standards and actual performance is given on the next page.



The Registry's performance is closely monitored by an in-house Performance Monitoring Committee. Actual delivery time for each service is regularly recorded on either a full-scale or sampling basis.

Three Customer Liaison Groups - one for private sector customers and two for public sector clients - provide regular customer feedback and assist in monitoring performance.

A dedicated Management and Customer Services Division is responsible for planning and co-ordinating customer services. One of the main functions of the Division is to develop an innovative outreaching approach to customer-focused service at the Land Registry. Our aims are :

• to ensure delivery of value-for-money quality services to customers;
• to reach out to customers and make the Registry readily accessible;
• to keep existing and prospective customers well informed of the Registry's services, activities, and changes affecting them;
• to anticipate and understand customer needs and expectations;
• to ensure prompt and positive action to satisfy customers; and
• to promote a business-friendly Registry.

A key member of the Division is the Customer Service Manager who can be reached directly by members of the public through a dedicated telephone hotline (3105 0000).

The Customer Service Manager receives a wide range of enquiries and requests relating to the legal, technical or procedural aspects of land registration and search functions. He also handles customer complaints and suggestions for improvement.

Customer Comment Cards and Suggestion Boxes have been introduced to all the offices of the Registry to encourage feedback and suggestions from customers.

114 customer comment cards were received in 2000/2001. A table summarizing customers' views from the comment cards is given below :

Enquiries, suggestions and complaints received from customers are recorded and analysed to facilitate continuous improvement to the Registry's services.

A table showing the number of commendations, enquiries/requests, suggestions and complaints received by the Customer Service Manager in 2000/2001 is given below :