Services and Operations
Search Services
Land records are maintained by the Land Registry for the purpose of providing an information platform on property ownership to facilitate property transactions.
In 2011/12, the total number of searches of land registers and supply of imaged copies and photocopies of land records were 5,181,527 (-18.8% from previous year) and 803,689 (-1.0% from previous year) respectively.
| Year | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searches of Land Registers | 5,396,269 | 4,628,256 | 5,819,397 | 6,382,360 | 5,181,527 |
| Imaged Copies and Photocopies of Land Records Supplied | 704,873 | 648,206 | 720,351 | 812,099 | 803,689 |
Since February 2005, the Land Registry has been providing search services over the internet via our IRIS Online Services at www.iris.gov.hk for 16 hours a day, seven days a week. With the successful launch of the new search system in August 2010, the stability and resilience of the system was enhanced and search hours of the online search service were extended to 20 hours daily, i.e. from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. the next day. The public can conduct searches on either an ad hoc or subscription basis. Currently, searches which are conducted online constituted about 90% of the total search volume. The remaining 10% are conducted over the counter. Counter search service is available at our Customer Centre in Queensway Government Offices and the New Territories Search Offices (NTSOs) in Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan.
The number of subscribers increased by 53 (+5.8%), reaching a record of 969 by March 2012.
The Land Registry publishes the Street Index and the New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table (CRT) annually to help users correlate property addresses and building names with lot numbers in the territory. To facilitate online search service, an online version of the 43rd edition of the Street Index and the 12th edition of the New Territories Lot/Address CRT has been made available for free browsing on the Land Registry's website or through the hyperlink on the IRIS Online Services since 27 June 2011. Over 42,000 visits were recorded up to 31 March 2012.