(a) Land Registrars Statement
I am pleased to report another year of impressive performance by the Land Registry Trading Fund for the financial year ended 31 March 2011.
Riding on the strong recovery of our economy, the property market continued to prosper in 2010/11. Intake of documents for registration and search of land records increased by 15% and 10% respectively as compared to that in 2009/10. The turnover for 2010/11 increased by 13.4% to $573.4 million, while profits and total comprehensive income increased by 35.9% to $203.5 million. The Trading Fund achieved a record rate of return of 52.6% on fixed assets for the year ended 31 March 2011. The number of Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) Online Services subscribers increased further by 12% to 916. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to our customers for their support and patronage over the past year.
Indeed, underpinning our solid financial performance is our on-going commitment in providing quality and efficient customer services. During the year, we further enhanced the service standard for registration of land documents by reducing the time span from 16 to 15 working days, and we succeeded in exceeding all our performance pledges. Another important milestone in service enhancement was the launch of a new search system in August 2010 with extended service hours from 16 to 20 daily. By separating the public search infrastructure from the internal registration functions of the IRIS, system maintenance and upgrading will no longer cause disruption to search services, thereby providing a more stable and reliable search experience for users. The transition of our online search services to the new search system was smooth and seamless.
Despite our strong performance in 2010/11, challenges are abound. As we ride into the third year of recovery from the global economic crisis in 2009, there are increasing uncertainties over the global economic prospect. Locally, in response to the growing speculation in residential properties, the Government has introduced a Special Stamp Duty on their resale within 24 months of acquisition. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has also tightened the maximum loan-to-value ratio for residential mortgage lending. While these measures are conducive to a more healthy development of our property market, they will inevitably have a bearing upon our business volume.
Notwithstanding that our performance is susceptible to the external economic environment, we remain committed to delivering services of the highest quality. In this regard, we have recently launched an online version of the Street Index and the New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table for free browsing on the Land Registrys website. We will also introduce new features to the e-memorial form, including auto-filling of property addresses and lot numbers by using the Property Reference Number, and data input facility for bulk input of memorial data. We plan to launch a prototype of the enhanced version for trial use in the third quarter of 2011.
Another key aspect of our work is the development and implementation of a title registration system in Hong Kong. In the 2009/10 annual report, I mentioned about the debate among major stakeholders on whether the mandatory rectification rule under the Land Titles Ordinance should be replaced by the principle of immediate indefeasibility, and the far-reaching implications of the debate on the land titles system and its implementation timetable. Over the past twelve months, we have held extensive and in-depth discussion on the issue with stakeholders, through the Land Titles Ordinance Steering Committee, the Joint Subcommittee on Amendments to Land Titles Ordinance of the Legislative Council and other meetings with individual stakeholders. The meetings and discussion have enabled stakeholders to appreciate the concerns of one another, and offered us the opportunity to consider how best to accommodate their divergent views and concerns.
Recently, we have put forward a new option involving two stages of automatic conversion, whereby the mandatory rectification rule would apply during the first stage of conversion for twelve years, and the immediate indefeasibility principle would be adopted after the final stage of full conversion. We are encouraged to note that the initial response of stakeholders is positive. While this new option may require further fine-tuning in the light of stakeholders comments, I very much hope that stakeholders would continue to lend us their full support, which is crucial in renewing the momentum for the land titles exercise.
Our reference to stakeholders is often in respect of professionals, market participants and other business partners who are closely involved in our work. With over half of the families in Hong Kong being registered property owners, the public is our ultimate stakeholder. Subject to a consensus being reached with key industry players on the above mentioned two-stage conversion mechanism, we plan to update members of the public on the latest development and to hear their views on the proposed way forward. Meanwhile, we are also preparing a teaching kit on land registration system in Hong Kong as a learning resource for the subject of liberal studies in the new senior secondary curriculum. We believe this teaching kit will help promote better understanding of the present land registration system and instil interests in the forthcoming title registration reform among the younger generation.
Finally, I wish to thank my colleagues for another year of excellent work. Their dedication, professionalism and diligence have won the recognition and commendation of our customers and partners. Worth particular mentioning was the Ombudsmans Awards 2010 for Officers of Public Organisations awarded to a staff member, which attests to our firmly rooted service culture. I am truly honoured and privileged to be part of this great team.
Olivia NIP, J.P.
The Land Registrar & General Manager
The Land Registry Trading Fund, Hong Kong
29 September 2011