Services and Workload

The major services provided by the Land Registry are:

• registration of land documents;
• search of land registers;
  
• supply of copies of land records;
  
• certification of copies of land records; and
  
• owners’ corporation services.

(i) Registration of Land Documents

In the financial year of 1 April 2008 - 31 March 2009, a total of 593,328 land documents were lodged for registration, representing a decrease of 25.7% when compared with the previous year. On average, 2,422 documents were lodged for registration each working day.


Number of Land Documents Lodged for Registration from 2006/07 to 2008/09

Over 15% of the documents lodged for registration in 2008/09 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.


Number and Consideration of Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) of Building Units Lodged for Registration from 2006/07 to 2008/09

(ii) Search of Land Registers

4,628,256 searches of land registers were made in 2008/09, a 14.2% decrease compared with the previous year. On average, 17,528 searches were handled each working day. More than 88% of the searches were conducted through the IRIS Online Services.


Number of Searches of Land Registers from 2006/07 to 2008/09

(iii) Supply of Copies of Land Records

In 2008/09, the Land Registry provided 648,206 sets of imaged copies and photocopies of land records to customers, a 8% decrease compared with the previous year.


Number of Sets of Imaged Copies and Photocopies of Land Records Supplied from 2006/07 to 2008/09

(iv) Certification of Copies of Land Records

In 2008/09, the Land Registry certified 124,576 copies of land records, a 26.7% decrease compared with the previous year.


Number of Copies of Land Records Certified from 2006/07 to 2008/09

(v) IRIS Online Services

Since February 2005, we have been providing search services over the internet (IRIS Online Services) for 16 hours a day, seven days a week.

By the end of March 2009, the number of subscribers to the IRIS Online Services reached 740. Searches conducted online constituted about 90% of the total search volume. Searches by ad hoc users by means of credit cards and Payment-by-phone Service (PPS) constituted about 20% of all online searches.


(vi) Staff Productivity

For registration service, the output per man-day increased from an average of 36 for 2007/08 to 44 for 2008/09. For the counter search, the outputs per man-day for search of land registers remained steady at 94 and for imaged copies have increased from 83 to 87.


(vii) New Territories Search Offices

In February 2005, the Land Registry launched the new IRIS Online Services. After two years of operation with the new services, we carried out reviews of the use of all the New Territories Search Offices in 2007/08. After review, North and Sai Kung Search Offices were closed on 16 April 2007 and Tuen Mun Search Office on 5 May 2008.

At the beginning of 2009 we carried out another review of the use of the remaining Search Offices in the New Territories. Demand for services at the Sha Tin Search Office had remained at a low level, and in light of this, we decided to close the Sha Tin Search Office with effect from 4 May 2009.

Counter search services continue to be provided at our Central Search Office in Queensway Government Offices and the District Search Offices at Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan. Customers can also conduct internet searches at www.iris.gov.hk.

After closure, the owners’ corporation services of North, Sai Kung and Sha Tin districts previously provided at Sha Tin Search Office were taken up by the Tai Po Search Office.

All customers and stakeholders, including owners’ corporations in North, Sai Kung and Sha Tin districts, were informed of the new arrangements before closure of the search office.


(viii) Owners’ Corporation Services

The Land Registry is responsible for registration of owners’ corporations and search of owners’ corporation records under the Building Management Ordinance. The Ordinance, which falls within the policy jurisdiction of the Home Affairs Bureau, aims to enable owners of multi-storey buildings to establish owners’ corporations to deal with building management matters. During the year, 277 new owners’ corporations have been formed, representing about 3.2% of the total number of owners’ corporations (8,726).