Establishing Property Rights through a Secure System of Land Title Management

Abstract

Land is a critical economic asset in any economy. The need for a timely, accurate, safe, simple, secure, and universally accessible system of registering and recording land transactions and interest in land is the cornerstone of a proper land market. Such land markets are an important mechanism to empower the poor and reduce the costs of doing business.1 Secure property rights provide asset owners the incentive to invest in their property while allowing easier collateralisation. Without secure tradable property rights, land is ‘dead capital’.