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What Home Buyers Need to Know About the Land Registry
Hong Kong Property | May 17, 2020
What services does Land Registry (LR) provide?
- Deeds Registration
If a member of the public purchases a property or becomes a party to a property transaction, he/she will need to execute a deed or other document. That deed or document will normally be registered with the Land Registry because registered documents would have a priority over unregistered documents and other documents registered after it.
- Search of Land Records
At the Land Registry’s Customer Centre and the New Territories Search Offices, customers can use the Counter Search and Self-service Search services to conduct searches of land records. They can also use the online Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS).
- Owners’ Corporations
The LR is responsible for processing and approving applications for registration of owners’ corporations, issuing certificates of registration and maintaining a register of corporations for public search.
- e-Alert Service
Subscription service for property owners to better protect their interests. Subscribers of the service will receive an email alert of the delivery of any instrument to the Land Registry for registration against their property.
What useful information can the public get from the Land Registry (LR) ?
1. Land Records: Land Register, Memorial, Memorial Day Book, Government Lease and Block Government Lease.
2. Statistics (number of deeds and their consideration): Agreements for Sale and Purchase of Building Units, Agreements for Sale and Purchase of Land, Assignments of Building Units, Assignments of Land, Building Mortgages/Building Legal Charges, Leases/Tenancy Agreements.
Take agreements for sale and purchase of building units as an example, the LR lists out not only the consolidated monthly statistics but also the year-on-year rate of change and monthly statistics on a regional basis. If you are interested in more information about transaction history, Spacious can also provide detailed searches of transaction records.
Many people think that they can check whether a house is haunted through the Land Registry. In fact, the LR does not provide this kind of service. Spacious has a page called “Hong Kong Resources” on which there is a list of haunted houses in Hong Kong. Home buyers can also find the latest properties for sale in Hong Kong.
