Title Registration
Recent Development
Stakeholder Engagement
As reported last year, there were divergent views among major stakeholders as to whether the mandatory rectification rule currently provided under the LTO should be replaced by the principle of immediate indefeasibility as the rectification arrangement under the new titles system. To address these concerns, the Land Registry has developed a new proposal whereby eligible land would undergo two stages of automatic conversion, with an opt-out arrangement for existing owners who wish to maintain mandatory rectification. On full conversion, owners will enjoy indefeasible title.
We introduced the new proposal to the major stakeholders at the LTO Steering Committee Meeting in May 2011 with representatives from the Consumer Council, the Estate Agents Authority, the Hong Kong Association of Banks, the Hong Kong Bar Association, the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and the Heung Yee Kuk. Individual discussion sessions were also arranged with different stakeholders to exchange views on the proposal. We are closely liaising with stakeholders to work out an agreed way forward.
Meeting with LegCo's Joint Subcommittee on Amendments to LTO
We reported to the Joint Subcommittee on Amendments to LTO formed under the Panel on Development and the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services of the Legislative Council (the LegCo Joint Subcommittee) at its last meeting held in June 2011 on the progress and the outstanding issues relating to the preparation of the LT(A)B. At the meeting, we briefed Members on the proposed Two-Stage Conversion Mechanism and the Administration's plan to launch a public engagement exercise on the proposed way forward for the implementation of the title registration system. Papers and documents submitted to the LegCo Joint Subcommittee and the report summarising the deliberations and work of the LegCo Joint Subcommittee are available on the Land Registry's website.
Review of LTO and Preparation of LT(A)B
During the year, we continued with the review of the LTO for the purpose of preparing the LT(A)B. As part of the review, we consulted various Government departments and worked closely with them to address and resolve issues arising from the inter-relationship between the LTO and ordinances under their purview.