The government is planning to implement title registration on land sold after 2027 to help streamline procedures relating to ownership transfer.

It will also cover land granted by private treaty and by land exchange.

Speaking at a closed-door press briefing on Monday, Development Bureau officials said it's estimated that there will be around 450 new land grants, and 25,000 title registers will be created within five years after the new system is implemented.

Under the current deeds registration system, title is decided by checking previous deeds, and officials said there is no guarantee of title to property.

When conveyancing a property, the buyer’s lawyer has to check all previous title deeds carefully, including historical title documents, to make sure the property has a “clean title” so the buyer will have the legal ownership. Owners will also have to properly keep the title deeds.

By contrast, officials said title registration will provide certainty in property ownership, and the person who is being registered will be recognised as the true owner.

“The Title Register is conclusive evidence of title to the property,” an official said.

The Development Bureau also said the new system can shorten the property-transfer process.

“There is no need to check historical title documents in sale and purchase of property. People will find out the owner from the Title Register on the Land Registry, and whether there are other ownership interests,” the official added.

A genuine and innocent buyer who has acquired the property will have the “indefeasible title”, even if the transfer of property involved third-party fraud.

In that case, the former owner can apply for compensation, capped at HK$50 million, under a Land Title Indemnity Fund.

The bureau added that it does not have a timetable on converting the existing 2.9 million land registers to title registration, due to complicated legal issues such as problematic ownership.