Land Title Registration Research Articles

‘Stable and Four-Square:’ A Colonial History of Property-Owning Democracy

ABSTRACT This paper explores the colonial history of the theory of ‘property-owning democracy.’ Focusing on R.R. Torrens’ title registration system, the paper links property-owning democracy to nineteenth-century debates on land rights and title registration. Instituted in South Australia in 1858, Torrens’ system linked the simplification of transactions in land to visions of a property-owning society. Seeking to replace complex land laws, Torrens’ system’s emphasis on speeding up land transactions appealed both to settler society and metropole. This transformation facilitated the dispossession of Indigenous lands and intertwined property law with colonial narratives of progress, liberty, and democracy. Ultimately, Torrens’ vision identified democracy with a new property regime securing the future of property title and political rights. Through a common engagement with nineteenth-century Britain’s ‘land question,’ Torrens’ project in South Australia is linked to the development of the twentieth-century political concept of property-owning democracy. The paper makes the case that exploring land registration debates reveals the importance of secure property rights and human capital in the history of ideas of property-owning democracy. Legal and bureaucratic innovations like the property register were considered to free individuals to invest in their own economic development and create the economic conditions for democracy.

Penentuan Prioritas Pendaftaran Tanah Sistematis Lengkap Melalui Clustering Jumlah Sertifikat Hak Atas Tanah Menggunakan K-Means

In carrying out its duties and functions to serve the community in the land sector, BPN Magelang Regency is still experiencing several obstacles such as in terms of filing and determining service priorities in 21 sub-districts in Magelang Regency. To improve the quality of BPN services in Magelang Regency, this research will build a system to assist file management and grouping of service priorities by implementing the K-Means Clustering method. The K-Means Clustering method was chosen because this method can calculate the grouping of several alternatives based on the criteria. The result of this study is that the application of a synchronized web-based PTSL application can make it easier for PTSL officers to manage land title registration files. In addition, the integration of K-Means Clustering calculations that are implemented into the system can be used as an approach tool in determining which districts are the priority for handling land certificate.

The nexus between land title registration and property prices in Ghana: evidence from Accra’s housing market

PurposeThere is a long-standing debate about the relationship between land title registration and tenure security. Studies in the developing world point to a tenuous link between land registration and stable land tenure. The reason why people continue to register therefore becomes a mystery if tenure security is not entirely assured. This article focuses on the increase in property value as one such factor that induces title registration. Previous studies have quantified the economic impact of title registration on property values. However, the impact varies from city or country to another. The authors seek to investigate the extent of property value increment in Accra attributable to land title registration.Design/methodology/approachThe authors statistically analyzed a data set from two institutions (First National Bank and the Lands Commission) in Ghana using a quantitative technique.FindingsThe authors discovered that, holding all other factors constant, the value of the land in Accra increases by 22.6% due to land title registration. This shows that lessees must register to enhance property values, even though the essential due diligence must be done to make sure the acquisition is free from liens and legal disputes.Practical implicationsThis article highlights the implication of the findings for land administration as well as the practice of property valuation, development and brokerage in Ghana and Global South more broadly.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies in Ghana to investigate the specific premium that housing markets put on land title registration.

Influential Factors on the Effectiveness of Land Title Registration Program in Sri Lanka: Professional’s Perspective

Influential Factors on the Effectiveness of Land Title Registration Program in Sri Lanka: Professional’s Perspective

Comparative Study of Conventional and Certificate of Occupancy Redefined Methods of Land Title Registration in Oyo State

Comparative Study of Conventional and Certificate of Occupancy Redefined Methods of Land Title Registration in Oyo State

Comparative Study of Conventional and Certificate of Occupancy Redefined Methods of Land Title Registration in Oyo State

Comparative Study of Conventional and Certificate of Occupancy Redefined Methods of Land Title Registration in Oyo State

Development of a smartphone-based information platform for rural land sublease in China

This paper compares the current situation of development ,clarifies the problems that need to be solved by the information platform of rural land sublease, and then constructs a smartphone-based information platform and draws conclusions and suggestions, firstly, based on the analysis of rural land sublease policy and platform as a realistic basis, the design of rural land sublease information platform is carried out by using comparative analysis method and object-oriented analysis and design method. By constructing and analyzing the rural land sublease information platform, we deepen the informationization of land sublease government services and enhance the dynamic land title registration function. Based on the construction of the rural land sublease information platform, the government is promoted to explore the orderly opening and utilization of information resources, and provide all-in-one land sublease governmental information services in line with the needs and user habits of the new era. In today's new era of mobile network, the cell phone platform can better serve to realize the rights and obligations of land sublease regulated by the Land Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, improve the efficiency of rural land resources, and promote rural revitalization. With the gradual establishment of land sublease management information systems in various places, government information services such as land title registration inquiries are gradually standardized. However, there are still problems such as fragmentation of information on land sublease management and transactions, asymmetry of land sublease information, and low technical level.

Social Factors Encumbering Land Title Registration in Tanzania: The Case of Mtwivila and Mkimbizi Wards, Iringa Municipality

The aim of this study was to explore social factors impeding land title registration (LTR) in Mtwivila and Mkimbizi Wards, Iringa Municipality. Using the mixed research design, this study employed cross-sectional research to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Questionnaire and interview methods were used to collect primary data. Qualitative data were presented in selected themes and verbatim by interview respondents. Quantitative data were presented in tables, frequencies, percentages and figures then analysed descriptively. The study findings indicated limited awareness among Plot Owners Without Title Deed (POWTD) regarding: the inherent benefits of title deeds, probate and administration, plot allocation procedures, land title registration procedures and the perils of not executing property transfer. This study recommends that allied land professionals in Iringa Municipal council (IMC), Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development (MLHHSD) and other stakeholders should create public awareness, as an immediate intervention measure regarding land title registration.

Landowners’ perceptions towards the success of land title registration in Sri Lanka

Bhumi is published by the Town & Country Planning Research Institute of the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and the La Trobe University, Australia.Bhumi serves a wide range of subject areas directly and indirectly related to Urban and Rural Planning, Economics, Development, Governance, Urban Management, Environmental Planning, Resource Management, Construction, Housing, Infrastructure, Urban Design, Politics, Technology etc.

Land tenure regimes for women in Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Northern Ghana: Opportunities and threats

This paper analyses women’s access and security to land under customary land governance in Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Northern Ghana through document analyses and surveys of 312 land right holders and tenants from 13 communities. The key interest is to investigate the potential for combining customary land practices with land title registration and education in improving women’s economic empowerment and social development in the Dorimon and Zukpiri CREMAs. The paper focuses on the motivation of land right holders to grant land rights to women through land use agreements and reasons for terminating such agreements, and provides critical perspectives and data to support the development of tenure security indicators for community protected agro-ecological areas. The study also assesses the position of women in anticipation of forest carbon credits as against their current land holding rights and concludes that despite inherent weaknesses of customary land governance in protected areas, opportunities exist to scale up and expand the formalisation of land use rights through CREMAs, education and the use of Voluntary Savings and Loans Association to enable women gain access to sufficient land. This could significantly help improve women smallholder farmers’ tenure security to land, provide livelihood options, enhance food security and ensure their participation and profit from entering into result based ecosystem payment scheme such as REDD+.

Land Tenure Dynamism in Yam Farming in the Atebubu-Amanten District, Ghana

Land tenure system in Africa has received extensive research coverage. For years the customary tenure system was regarded as contradictions to development. Researchers and donor organisations, particularly the World Bank, pushed this agenda and called for its replacement with a more efficient land tenure regime that would promote exclusive land use right through land title registration. After decades of the failure of the land title registration agenda to achieve the perceived investment in land, there is a shift to recognise the customary land tenure practices as evolving, negotiable, fluid, efficient and capable of promoting investment and development in land. This paper examines the effects of land tenure dynamism on yam farming in the Atebubu- Amanten District of Ghana. The paper situates the land tenure debate within the context of the evolutionary theory of land rights which argues that land tenure is evolving from communal landholding to atomistic family and individual landholding. The paper argues that the transition to the individual land rights affects the farming system based on shifting cultivation and land fallowing as practiced in the study area. The study concludes that there is a relationship between the land tenure system and the system of cultivation. Therefore, any attempt at land tenure reforms geared towards exclusive land use right through individual titling should take into consideration the prevailing farming system.

A Baseline Assessment of Gender Distribution of Government Land Allocation and Private Titled Lands in Akure, Nigeria

There is strong evidence that most land transactions in Nigerian urban areas take place in the private or informal land market and remain untitled. Only a small percentage of land transactions take place through government allocation even though it ensures greater tenure security. This study examines gender distribution in the allocation of government lands in Akure, Nigeria and the rate of land title registration in the private land market using secondary data of land allocation and Certificate of Occupancy for a period of 10 years (2009-2018) from the Lands Department of the Ministry of Works, Land and Housing, Akure. Close-ended questionnaires were administered to the officials in charge of the records and the Director of the Department was interviewed. Primary data were analysed using weighted mean scores, while secondary data were analysed using ratio and difference measures, trend analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings show that the number of registered land titles in private land was lower than the number of government land allocations even though more transactions took place in the private land market. The time taken to process land title registration and lack of awareness were ranked highest among factors affecting land title registration. Although there were no gender specific requirements in the process of land allocation and title registration, stereotypes appear to play a role in land distribution decisions and title registration across the study area. A risk ratio of as high as three to one (males to females) in land allocation and 10 to one in land title registration was observed in some years. The paper recommends educating people, especially women, about the importance of land titling and accessing government land, which is far more secure than private land. Recommendations are also made towards a better land registration process in the study area.

When Tradition Meets Modernity in Land Registration: Evidence from Dagbon, Ghana

Development practice over recent years in much of Africa prioritized formalization of land policies deemed to enhance better handling and use of land as an asset for social development. Following this trend, land reform policy in Ghana was based on a pluralistic legal system in which both the customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist by law. The primary research question for this study was the following: What implications emerge when customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist in law? The study discussed the prospects and challenges of land title registration and the meaning of the new organizing concept in land ownership and administration among the people of Dagbon in the northern region of Ghana. The principal aim of the study was to assess the challenges of the implementation of a modern land registration system over a deeply traditional one. A qualitative research methodology was used and included qualitative descriptive analysis. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out to investigate opinions on the implications of the merger and preferred options for redress of any systemic challenges. It employed Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) to supplement in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted among 40 key participants within formal and informal institutions including officials from both the Land Commission and Town and Country Planning Departments. Purposeful sampling was employed, and an interview guide was developed and used for collecting the data. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The results showed that in this structural reform, the ‘allodial title’ holder was much more trusted for tenure security because of the traditional legitimacy of the King as the sole owner and controller of land. The title registration system therefore principally served the secondary purpose as additional security. The findings indicate that in the circumstance where the law was seen as pliable, the policy engendered blurred and confusing effects that deepened the sense of ambiguity and outcomes were sometimes contradictory. We argued that the crossroads presented challenges that were novel and engendered innovative thinking for more appropriate solutions. The study revealed that policy reforms must be tailor-made to the physical, social, cultural and economic settings.

Applying Blockchain Security for Agricultural Supply Chain Management

Blockchain technology permits a highly secured record keeping and digital transaction. Blockchain technology is changing the digital world and industry by bringing a new view to security, transparency, and efficiency of systems. It provides a safe way for the exchange of products, services, or transaction. Blockchain will enable more agile value chains, faster product innovations, closer customer relationship sector. This paper provides an overview of blockchain technology and its potential in developing a secure and reliable agriculture supply chain management. Agriculture supply chain management systems are vital for getting food products delivered from farmers to the consumers. Blockchain technology can also be used to achieve better prices and payment options, land title registration and for transparent disbursement of subsidies to farmers.

Factors impacting on effective implementation of land title registration – a perspective from Ghana

Many governments across Sub Saharan Africa are in the process of introducing or improving land registration and formal titling systems. One of the stated aims is to achieve modern land information management in order to facilitate the development of the land market. It is often assumed that, because formal systems and institutions have enjoyed some positive outcomes in terms of realising wealth in developed countries, they will succeed equally well in developing economies. However, findings from empirical studies across several developing countries show that the performance of formal land registration systems has been mixed. Relying on empirical data from two major cities in Ghana, this paper examines the operations of land registration system with particular reference to its land information management aspects. The analysis shows that a divergence in the implementation of principles of the legal framework and organisational challenges are major contributory factors to deficiencies in the land information regime of the land registration system. Hence, there is a need for effective implementation of well-crafted and functional legal frameworks for land registration, to ensure that the principles and operations of land registration are locally relevant and sensitive. To address the inadequate organisational capacity there is a need to improve the capacity of the human resource base of the officials of the formal land administration sector. The procedure for land registration must also be streamlined in order to eliminate unnecessary requirements and thereby reduce the transaction time, costs of registration and frustration of clients.

Constraints and Benefits of the Blockchain Use for Real Estate and Property Rights

Purpose - Many recent social media posts and news may create a perception of big success in the use of blockchain for the real estate industry, land registration and protection of titles and property rights. A sobering outlook is crucial because misleading concepts may bury the whole idea of blockchain use. The paper aims to research the possibilities of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and applicability of these technologies for different purposes in real estate, property rights and public registries. Design/methodology/approach – This research is framed with policy studies and focuses on property rights, land registration regulatory framework and ICT innovations. The context of this paper is decentralization which has been developed in political science studies and the role of blockchain and DLT in it. Therefore, the provided analysis of blockchain and DLT is interdisciplinary research to interpret the facets of DLT technologies in the context of real estate and land title registration. Findings - Permissioned and private DLT systems cannot be considered a significant evolutionary step in government systems. Blockchain, which is distinguished from permissioned systems as the technology of the immutable ledger that does not require authorities, is a new word in governance. However, this technology has some principal features that can restrain its implementation at the state level, and thus require further research and development. The application of blockchain requires a proper architecture of overlaid technologies to support changes of outdated and mistaken data, address issues of digital identity and privacy, legal compliance and enforceability of smart contracts, hardforks and scalability of the ledger. Originality/value - This paper shows the constraints of the technology’s properties which were not explained before in the context of title rights and land registration even though technological limits are known in more specific technical sources. Along with the known benefits this meant to help to avoid misinterpretation of some DLT features by non-technical people. A multidisciplinary approach in analysing the technology and laws helped to better understand what can and cannot be beneficial for public registries and the protection of property rights. The presented outcomes can be laid down as requirements for the technical protocols aimed at addressing the issues of DLT and public policies to put blockchain at the service of society.

The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources

The Effects of Land Title Registration on Tenure Security, Investment and the Allocation of Productive Resources

A Decade of Communal Land Titling in Cambodia: Achievements and Ways Forward

It is widely acknowledged that there are 24 indigenous groups (IPs) in Cambodia. These groups are concentrated in north eastern provinces of Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Kratie and Preah Vihear, where they have lived for many generations. They are also present elsewhere in the country. IPs’ rights in Cambodia, particularly rights to land resources have been legally recognized in the Land Law 2001 (Article 23 to 28). Further, Sub-decree No. 83 (2009) on the ‘Procedure of Communal Land Title Registration’, aligned with the Forestry Law (2002), and the Protected Area Law (2009) provides detailed guidelines on how Indigenous Peoples may register communal land. During the early 2010s, a communal land titling project was piloted in two Indigenous communities in Ratanakiri and another in Mondulkiri province, with the assistance of the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and Danish International Development Agency (Danida). These communities obtained communal land titles (CLTs) over a period between 2011 and 2013. Since 2013, the Royal Government of Cambodia has financially supported the CLTs through the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction (MLMUPC). By December 2019, the MLMUPC had received 68 applications for the registration of communal land titles by different Indigenous communities. Of these applicants, 30 had received CLTs. After almost a decade of implementing CLTs registration project, Cambodia has performed relatively well within the Southeast Asian context in terms of recognizing the rights of Indigenous people to land resources. However, the land titling process needs to be simplified, if the time taken to issue CLTs is to be reduced. Technical challenges related to the preliminary mapping process often delay decisions about the allocation of land within protected areas to Indigenous communities.

Implementation Of Registration Of Transfer Of Rights Reserved Land For Endowments By Permen Atr Bpn No. 2 Of 2017 In Pati Regency

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze: 1) Implementation of Registration of Transfer of Rights Reserved Land For Endowments By Permen ATR BPN No. 2 Of 2017 in Pati regency. 2) As a result of the Law of Registration of Transfer of Rights Reserved Land For Endowments By Permen ATR BPN No. 2 Of 2017 in Pati regency. 3) Barriers and Solutions in the Process of Registration of Transfer of Rights Reserved Land For Endowments By Permen ATR BPN No. 2 Of 2017 in Pati regency.The approach method in this research is juridical empirical research that emphasizes the behavior of individuals or communities in connection with the law. The data used are primary and secondary data obtained through interviews and literature, while the method of data analysis was done with descriptive qualitative analilis.Results of the research results can be concluded: 1) The registration of transfer of property rights to land as endowments by Permen ATR BPN No. 2 of 2017 in Pati regency categorized into two, namely for Waqf land registration activities that have not been certified (customary land) and the endowment of land that has been certified. For land that has not berserifikat documents furnished as the Deed of Pledge Waqf, copy of ID / KK, Ffoto copy of ID card / ID holder, a certificate of history of the land, a statement of physical mastery, the power of attorney request, a copy of property tax, proof of the right base / proof of ownership, a letter of disputes and probate Nadzir. As for the registration of land that has been certified requirements document completeness namely Deed Pledge endowment, land title certificates, copy of ID / KK Applicant, copy of ID / KK owner rights, petition, revelation of the grace period endowments, probate Nadzir, a statement of the land is not dispute, a statement of the land / building physically controlled, and evidence of CNS / PPH. 2) The legal consequences transitional registration of land titles for endowments, namely the status of Waqf land rights be have legal certainty. Waqf land registration set forth in Regulation ATR BPN Number 2 of 2017 concerning Procedures in the Ministry of Waqf Land Registration BPN ATR is a target to hold a legal simplicity. 3) Barriers still the majority community in Pati regency are still reluctant to take care certificate donated land, because of the assumption that the Waqf land certification process requires very expensive, the government's solution is to conduct information dissemination and outreach to the community.Keywords: Endowments; Land Registry; BPN

Analysis of Constraints with Access to Secure Property Rights Registration in Akure, Nigeria

A reasonable proportion of economic achievement is derivable from an active land market system that is supported with improved and formalized land right registration. However, there are still constraints with access to secure property rights registration in many states of Nigeria in contrast with the experience in developed economies. This situation inhibits a healthy real estate property market development. The paper elicited data from 150 professionals in the built environment within Akure, the capital of Ondo state, using a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis by principal components was adopted in the data analysis to classify identified twenty-one variables that constitute constraints to property rights registration in the study area. The results show that six components accounted for 77.23% of the total variance explained and a total of six factors were extracted which converged in 10 iterations. Time taken in achieving land title registration, the bureaucratic procedure involved, inappropriate document to work with, poor knowledge of ICT among officials and poor internet connectivity are among inhibiting factors. There is need to introduce modern Land Information System (LIS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) into property right registration process to make data more secure, enhance huge data storage, easy access and retrieval.