A study on determination of lot boundaries in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Abstract

There has been much concern about land boundary security in land boundary systems around the world in recent decades. Singapore has implemented a comprehensive legal coordinated cadastre, complete with legal sanction since August 2004. In England and Wales, a new boundary concept, the determined boundary, was introduced in the Land Registration Act 2002. It provides a channel for improving boundary trustiness. In Hong Kong, a similar idea was floated in the Land Titles Ordinance (Cap 585). This seems to be a big leap forward in Hong Kong's land boundary system, especially in terms of efforts to enhance boundary security. The Ordinance, however, has not yet come into operation. Instead, the Land Titles (Amendment) Bill is now being prepared. This research will start with an investigation into the cadastral reform of three land boundary systems. A real boundary case is studied and analyzed, with the objective of identifying weaknesses in Hong Kong's land boundary system and reflecting the urgent need of upgrading the boundary security. The latter part of the research will mainly focus on the determination of lot boundaries, including the pre-requisites, benefits and limitations in the currently proposed determination of lot boundaries as stated in the Land Titles Ordinance. Drawing reference from the experiences of Singapore and Britain, the author attempts to draw up some recommendations. Finally, by integrating the facts and the recommendations, a mechanism of determination of lot boundaries is proposed, serving as a blueprint to help the government in its decision making.