Land Registry Annual Report 2005/06
 
 
 
Building Trust
 
Liaison groups and other exchange channels
 
To assess customers’ changing needs and expectations, the Land Registry communicates closely with them. Various channels have been set up to this end:

 
Customer Liaison Groups
 
Two Customer Liaison Groups, one for private sector customers and one for government departments, have been set up for an ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders.

 

The objectives of the Customer Liaison Groups are to:

  • improve the Registry's understanding of customers' needs and expectations;
  • improve customers' understanding of the Registry's policies, services and procedures; and

  • exchange views on operational and service delivery issues.

     
The private sector group is composed of representatives from the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Association of Banks, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, the Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association and the Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents Limited.  The public sector group comprises representatives from government departments which are frequent users of the Registry’s services.  Each group meets three times a year.

 
In 2005/06, a total of 6 Customer Liaison Group Meetings were held.

 
We thanked the following members from the private sector for their continuous support to the Registry:

 
Standing Members of the Land Registry Customer Liaison Group (Private Sector) 2005/06
 
The Law Society of Hong Kong

Mr. CHEUNG Kee-ming

Ms. LAM Man-yee

Mr. YUEN Kwok-kit

Mr. YEUNG Wing-wah

Mr. David WONG Pui-hon

Ms. WONG Yee-mei

   
The Hong Kong Association of Banks

Mr. Andy NG Hak-chung

Mr. TONG Hon-shing
   
The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors

Mr. Alex NG Siu-lam

Mr. CHIU Kam-kuen
 

Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents Limited

Mr. Kelvin YAU
Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association

Mr. George LUI Shing-kin

Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public
Accountants

Ms. Ivy CHUA Suk-lin

Mr. OU Zhao-ji

Mr. Patrick L. T. WONG

 
Land Registry Joint Standing Committee

 
The Land Registry Joint Standing Committee, comprising the Land Registrar, his senior staff and representatives of the Law Society of Hong Kong, meets regularly to discuss and exchange views on land registration matters, the Registry’s services provided to the legal practitioners and implementation of title registration system.

 
The Committee held its first meeting on 11 February 1964 and, over the years, has proven to be very useful in promoting closer co-operation between the Land Registry and the legal profession.

 
The Committee will continue to play a significant role in assisting the Registry to maintain an efficient and effective land registration system.

 
Overseas Liaison

Our relationship with customers is beyond geographical boundary. We maintain close ties with our overseas counterparts. In 2005/06, we received 5 delegations comprising over 30 visitors from the Mainland and the Moscow Government. In October 2005, the Land Registrar attended the 33rd Australasian Land Registrars’ Conference held in Wellington, New Zealand. These contacts gave us a good opportunity to benchmark our services with overseas jurisdictions, exchange experience in land registration and information on development projects, and look for new ideas on improving our operations and services.

 

New Publications

The Land Registry produces a variety of publications to provide the latest information and to promote greater understanding of the work of the Registry:

  • Land Registry Circular Memoranda
 

In 2005/06, 7 circulars were issued:
 
  • Changes introduced by the central registration system
 
  • Release for sale of the Street Index (37th Edition) and the New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table (6th Edition)
 
  • Relocation of the original land grants to Sha Tin Search Office
 
  • Practice on withholding instruments from registration and exemptions from compliance with Regulation 9(1) of the Land Registration Regulations
 
  • Contingency service arrangements during the World Trade Organization Sixth Ministerial Conference
 
  • Relocation of Urban Owners Incorporation Unit of the Land Registry
 
  • Reduction in application fees for IRIS Online Services subscriber account and supplementary login ID
   
  • Land Registry News
 
 
To keep customers and business associates abreast of the Land Registry’s current activities and progress of the development project carrying out in the Registry, a regular newsletter, the “Land Registry News”, is published for general distribution. 2 issues were published in 2005/06.
 
  • Information Pamphlets
 
During the year, the Land Registry published the following pamphlets to give a detailed account of the various activities and achievements of the Registry over the year and the progress of the development project as well as the performance pledge of the year:
  • Performance Pledge 2005/06
  • Land Registry Trading Fund Annual Report 2004/05
  To tie in with the new operation under IRIS, the Registry revised and published the following pamphlets:
  • How to Conduct Searches of Land Records
  • The Land Registry
  • An Explanatory Note on Registration of Document
Website
The Registry’s website is a comprehensive source of news and information on the Land Registry’s core business and progress of development projects conveniently accessible to people throughout the world twenty-four hours a day. Our website (http://www.landreg.gov.hk) provides user-friendly navigation features and is available in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and English versions. It provides users with access to all main Land Registry publications and a quick-link directly to the IRIS Online Services (http://www.iris.gov.hk). We regularly update and enhance the contents of our website. A new thematic section, namely “Suggestions and Responses on IRIS Online Services” had been added during the year. In 2005/06, there were 1,724,879 visits to the website, an increase of 61% compared to 2004/05. From our website survey, 57% visitors rated it as good and above. Enhancements were made to our website information on receiving suggestions from customers. We also received 36 commendations and 401 enquiries through the website.
Interactive Voice Response System

To enhance our communication with customers, a Customer Service Hotline, telephone number 3105 0000, equipped with an Interactive Voice Response System has been set up. A wide range of information is available by listening to recorded messages or ordering information leaflets and forms by fax. Callers may choose from a range of services or speak to a live operator during office hours. A voice mail facility is also available. During the year, the number of calls received was 122,354, averaging 10,196 calls per month.

We are considering extension of helpline services to IRIS users outside normal office hours and at weekends.


 

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