Web Bytes 167

Land Register de-specs web service over security concerns
Publictechnology.net - UK
In response to concerns expressed by customers about the potential misuse of scanned documents available electronically from Land Register Online and following an extensive review of the service, Land Registry has decided that documents referred to on the register, for example mortgage deeds and leases, should no longer be available electronically from www.landregisteronline.gov.uk.

As from midnight on Monday 5 November 2007, online access to these documents will be removed. Members of the public wishing to inspect or have copies of any such documents can do so by applying in writing to Land Registry.

Land Registry acknowledges that removing online access makes the documents less readily available, but believes this to be a positive step which will help to alleviate any risk of misuse.
Public Technology.net

"More people can afford property"
Realestateweb.co.za - South Africa
You think a home is expensive? One bank says more people can afford homes these days.

You think a home is expensive? According to First National Bank, the average home may have shot up in value but more South Africans than ever are in a position to buy property.

Barely a day goes by without a Realestateweb visitor lamenting the staggering cost of bricks-and-mortar.

Many who have never owned a home ask for information on how to get on to the first rung of the property ladder, while others express amazement at where prices have been heading.
Realestateweb.co.za

Plea for first-time subsidy
BusinessDay - South Africa
Real estate group Seeff Properties has called for more research into the possibility of a subsidy for first-time home buyers to help them enter the property market.

Ian Slot, MD of Seeff Atlantic Seaboard, CBD and City Bowl in the Western Cape, says the group is suggesting the introduction of a subsidy for first-time buyers.

If home ownership is a cornerstone of a stable democracy, then difficulty in getting on to the first rung of the home ownership ladder is cause for concern, he says.

SA is generating a lot of tax through property transactions. Some of it should be used to help first-time home buyers. With prospective first-time buyers "locked in a rental matrix", they cannot "get on to that first rung".
Business Day