Hong Kong reforms

Hong Kong has some 2.5 million properties currently registered in the Land Registry, yet the legislation which governs it is the Land Registration Ordinance which was enacted in 1844. Under this system priority was conferred on registered deeds and served as a notice of registered instruments to the public. Registration did not serve as proof that the person registered as the owner had good title to the property. At best it was a convenient summary of what the state of the title was and the complexities of advice on title were left to the legal profession.

Now conveyancing procedures will be simplified and the costs and risks associated with having to establish title through large volumes of old documents will be reduced. The enactment of the Land Titles Bill will give effect to the Land Registrar's "Strategic Change Plan" which serves as a blueprint for two major service improvements:
* A Centralised Registration System, and
* A Land Title System.

The Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS) is at the core of the strategy, the long-term objective of which is the electronic lodgement of deeds.

Hong Kong Land Registry