Squatters’ right to possess land should be more limited in Hong Kong in light of a sweeping change to be made to the land registration system, the Law Reform Commission said on Monday.
The commission is reviewing the legal doctrine, known as adverse possession, that gives squatters rights to vacant private land after 12 years of uninterrupted use. In its preliminary proposals, the body said the doctrine should not be abolished, but changes needed to be made.
“We recommend that the law of adverse possession should be recast under the prospective registered land system.
“When a registered title regime is in place in Hong Kong, adverse possession alone should not extinguish the title to a registered estate,” the commission advised.
Hong Kong is to change the current deed registration system to a land registration system, by which the title register would be conclusive proof of ownership. One, when examining titles, no longer needs to review numerous instruments such as prior transaction records. But that would mean adverse possessors can claim not just a limited squatters’ title, but a good title as a government lessee.
As a result, the commission proposed that, in future, the squatter should be required to apply for registration after 10 years of uninterrupted adverse possession. The squatter can be registered only after the registered owner fails to file an objection within the two subsequent years.