Preparation for Title Registration : Position Report (23 May 2007)

When the Land Titles Ordinance was enacted in 2004 the Legislative Council made clear that it would not approve the ordinance being brought into effect until the Government had carried out a review of a range of issues and had worked through all practical arrangements with the Law Society, Estate Agents Authority and other parties.

The review has established that an amendment bill will need to be enacted before title registration begins. Preparation of this amendment bill is underway. The Land Registry aims to submit the bill for consideration by the Legislative Council after the Legislative Council elections in 2008. After enactment of the amendment bill, various final preparations will need to be made before the Land Titles Ordinance can commence. Assuming that the amendment bill completes passage through the Legislative Council by the end of 2009, it is expected that title registration for all new land can start from the end of 2010.

When the Land Titles Ordinance commences for new land, new provisions in the Land Registration Ordinance to help prepare for the conversion of existing land to the new system will also come into effect. All existing property will remain under the Land Registration Ordinance until a conversion date laid down in Schedule 1 of the Land Titles Ordinance. This is 12 years after the commencement date. At that point, with certain exceptions, all existing property will be brought over to the title register. This will be done automatically. Owners will not have to make any special application or pay any fee for the conversion.

Papers:-

Progress report (pdf format) This outlines the work completed since the enactment of the LTO and tasks still to be completed.
Table A (pdf format) This sets out the current position on the issues raised by the Legislative Council for review or follow up action in 2004.
Table B (pdf format) This sets out new matters raised during the course of the review that will be dealt with by the Land Titles Amendment Bill.
Table C (pdf format) This sets out all comments received from various parties on the working draft of the Land Titles Amendment Bill circulated in 2006, with responses made by the Land Registry.

Timeline:-

Mid 2008 Complete consultation on draft Land Titles Amendment Bill and subsidiary rules.
Late 2008/early 2009 Introduce Land Titles Amendment Bill in Legislative Council.
  Assume one year required for scrutiny in Legislative Council.
End 2009 Enactment of Land Titles Amendment Bill.
Early 2010 Enactment of subsidiary rules. Commencement of main professional training programme.
End 2010 Commencement of Title Registration for new land and of new provisions in Land Registration Ordinance.
End 2022 Conversion date for property under Land Registration Ordinance to Title Register.

Frequently asked questions