| Monograph : Land Search |
Contents |
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| (1) Land
registration in Hong Kong |
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Currently, Hong Kong operates
a deeds registration system which provides a record
of registration for all instruments affecting
land or relating to interests in land. (When fully
operational, the Land Titles Ordinance, passed
on 7 July 2004, will replace the current deeds
registration system in Hong Kong). |
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A land register is maintained for
each property at the Land Registry. A deed or other
document affecting a property, if entered in the
land register for that property, is assigned a memorial
number for identification purposes and for differentiating
it from other documents. |
The memorial number of an instrument delivered for
registration before the commencement of the Central
Registration System in February 2005 is prefixed with
the following set of district code identifiers indicating
one of the previous nine registries to which the memorial
was delivered.
| District Code Identifier |
Previous Land Registry |
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| UB |
Urban
Land Registry |
| IS |
Islands
New Territories Land Registry |
| N |
North
New Territories Land Registry |
| SK |
Sai Kung
New Territories Land Registry |
| ST |
Sha Tin
New Territories Land Registry |
| TM |
Tuen Mun
New Territories Land Registry |
| TP |
Tai Po
New Territories Land Registry |
| TW |
Tsuen
Wan New Territories Land Registry |
| YL |
Yuen Long
New Territories Land Registry |
In respect of each instrument received by the Land
Registry for registration after the implementation of
the Central Registration System, the memorial thereof
has been given a unique 14-digit number made up of four
groups of numbers (for example, AAAAAABBBBCCCX), with
the following meaning:
| a. |
The first six digits ("AAAAAA" in
the above example) stand for the date of receipt
(in terms of year, month and day respectively, each
with two digits) of the memorial. |
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| b. |
The next four digits ("BBBB" in
the above example) record the order of receipt of
each batch of memorials received on that date. |
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| c. |
The following three digits ("CCC"
in the above example) represent the order of memorials
within each batch of memorials received. |
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| d. |
The last digit ("X" in the above
example) is a check digit for control purposes. |
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This record alone, however, does
not provide evidence of the vendor's title. To check
the title of the vendor, it is still necessary for
a purchaser to examine the title deeds and documents
of the property and inspect the property. |
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The land registers and imaged copies
of the registered documents are open for public
inspection and may be obtained at the Land Registry
subject to payment of the prescribed fee. |
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