The relative efficacy of deed and title registration procedures for facilitating land transactions
Griffith-Charles, Charisse
Within the formal land administration system of Trinidad and Tobago are two coexisting subsystems of land registration; the deed registration system known as the Old Laww and the title registration system known as the RPO or Real Property Ordinance. The deed registration system houses a majority of the existing registered parcels in the country and there is little landowner interest in converting land from this system to the registration of title system as the title system is perceived to be restrictive to transactions. These restrictions are as a result of the institutional checks and approvals required for first registration of land and for subdivision of registered parcels. This paper reports on an investigation done on the relative incidence of transactions occurring on land held under either of these systems to determine which of these systems was more conducive to formal land market activity. It was found that, in keeping with the theory, the title registration system allows more frequent transactions of sale and mortgage to occur. Values of sale and mortgage on parcels held under the title system, however, are lower than those of parcels held under the deed system. The former finding is positive news for the proposed land title registration programme that would systematically bring all land in Trinidad and Tobago under an updated title registration system. However, the current institutions and processes that will still be required for subdivision of registered parcels after the completion of the registration programme will not be able to cope with a larger volume of transactions.
Event: 6th FIG Regional Conference 2007 : Strategic Integration of Surveying Services
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