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Hong Kong Cadastral Survey System: A comparison and its implementation
Tang Hong-Wai Conrad, Cheng Nga-Fong
Department of Land Surveying and Geo-informatics
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom, Hksar.
Email: Lstang@polyu.edu.hk, 00900630R@polyu.edu.hk
Tel: (852) 27665963, (852) 27665974.
Fax: (852) 23302994
Introduction
The present deeds registration in Hong Kong has been operating under Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128). Deeds and other relevant documents are registered in a form of land register in Land Registry. However, according to the Ordinance, approximate location of the said land parcel or property is only briefly described in the deed or depicted onto the lot identification plan. Recently, the Land Registry proposes the Land Titles Bill by the replacement of current deeds registration system. Despite such proposal has no intention to deal with the long neglected land rights: boundary extent.
By definition, a complete cadastral survey system covers "an interactive multitude of land administration sub-systems including adjudication, boundary definition and demarcation, surveying, registration, dispute resolution and information management" [Barry, 1999]. It serves to provide easy access to land-related information, to support certainty of ownership and rights to land, to give legal protection for land tenure, and to facilitate the land conveyance. As much attention for the system is primarily placed on the issues of boundary survey, land registration and legislation in the paper, others are beyond the scope.
As such, two typical examples of cadastral survey systems applied in South Africa and Singapore are illustrated and compared with those in Hong Kong. These three regions are selected as comparisons due to their past commonwealth backgrounds. They came under British administration at the outset of 1800s with an adoption of deeds registration system.
The Cadastral Survey System among three Regions - Overview
- South Africa system
The history of the Republic of South Africa is long and complex, but well documented. As establishment of South Africa's first democratic government experiences a land reform programme in 1994, the new government had to take reasonable legislative measures for citizens to contend the extremely unequal land distribution, and to gain access to land on an equitable basis.
The deed registration is conducted by the Department of Land Affairs through its nine Deeds Offices under the supervision of the Chief Registrar of Deeds. An integral part of the system, and a major source of information for land development initiatives, is a detailed recording of the historical information in respect of all registered properties. Besides, all registration of the definition of land rights is essential for a deed to be legally recognized, which falls under the umbrella of Deeds Registries Act No. 37 of 1937. The approved diagram attached for registration showing the exact location of the land is supported and approved by the Surveyor General Office (SGO).
"Section 18 of Deeds Registries Act shows the ownership of land alienated … by the State may be either by deed of grant of by deed of transfer issued or executed, the deed shall contain a reference to the title deed by which the State held the land and to the title deed to which the diagram of the land is annexed… If any piece of unalienated State land has been surveyed and is represented on a diagram the registrar concerned shall, upon written application by the Minister of Public Works, enter particulars of the land in the appropriate registers with the diagram, a certificate of registered State title prepared by a conveyancer."
The SGO of Department of Land Affairs is a national government to carry out the survey and conveyancing services. Storage, collection and dissemination of cadastral data can be incorporated as an integrated information infrastructure that supports ongoing system. The data serves as the base map for other authorities' land administration system. Also, the Land Survey Act No. 8 of 1997 as well as its Survey Regulations namely Manual of Procedures in respect of survey submitted under Land Survey Act, do much to streamline the survey-related duties of both land surveyors in private practice and government sectors. It imposes control over how cadastral survey and its records should be performed and prepared.
"Section 14 to 16 of Land Survey Act give no general plan or diagram of any piece of land shall be accepted in any deeds registry… unless general plan or diagram has been approved by the Surveyors-General. General plans or diagrams signed by land surveyor shall be approved in Surveyor-General and registered in the deeds registry. Section 18 shows any land surveyor carrying out a survey of any land to which a title deed has been issued but of which a diagram has not previously been registered, shall lodge with the Surveyor-General for examination and filing of record in the Surveyor-General's Office the prescribed diagram and survey records…"
- Singapore system
Since the British colonial era, Singapore has adopted common law. Singapore Land Authority (SLA) was inaugurated as a statutory board under the Ministry of Law in 2001, aimed to optimize land resources for the economic and social development of Singapore. The SLA is a merger of the former Land Office, Land Systems Support Unit, Singapore Land Registry (SLR) and Survey Department (SVY).
SLR is responsible for maintaining a sound legal registration of land management and public search system of land and strata titles. Strata titles have been registered in accordance with Land Titles (Strata) Act (Cap. 158) since 1968. Starting from 1993, land registration has intended to progressively convert a system of deeds into titles under the provisions of Land Titles Act (Cap. 157). Presently, there is two-land registration systems co-existed. Land under Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) is referred to common law or deeds land, whereas land governed by Land Titles Act is known as titles land.
Moreover, SVY has approximately 130,000 lot parcels identified with specified boundaries since 1999. It has several series of revision sheets with legal status such as First Series Sheets, Second series sheets and Resurvey Sheets. Of the government services related to properties, Integrated Land Information System (INLIS) is a service widely used and definitively welcomed by people in the real estate industry as it offers information on properties.
Boundary defined in Singapore is secured by Boundaries and Survey Maps Act (Cap. 25) of 1998 enacted since 1884 to provide for the land demarcation, establishment and preservation of boundary marks, and survey map publication. The recent amendment on this Act provides a legal framework for setting up a coordinated cadastre. Another act in Singapore is Land Surveyors Act (Cap. 156) of 1991, which regulates the requirement and specification to carry out land boundary surveys. It is mandatory for registered surveyors to deposit survey documents to the Department.
"Boundaries and Survey Maps Act (Cap. 25): It defines the duties and powers of the Chief Surveyor under Section 5 and 6 respectively. It provides for the legality of electronic maps in Section 6.3. This is to cater for the future process of electronic retrieval and submission of survey plans. Section 7 provides for the establishment and maintenance of the coordinated cadastre by the Chief Surveyor. It includes the conversion of the current coordinates to the new system according to designated survey areas."
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