Estate agents back plan for land registry

A LAND registry could stop property sales descending into disputes over boundaries, according to estate agents.

Directors yesterday backed the Treasury and Resources Department's plans to hold a review to establish a registry. These go to the States this month.

Ozannes advocate Mark Torode also gave it his support.

The registry would be an official record of land ownership plotted accurately on the States digital map, as opposed to the current registry of deeds held at the Greffe.

Swoffers director Spencer Noyon said it could solve expensive problems.

'I think it would speed up the whole process, which would be a great help to estate agents and the general public.

'With every other sale at the moment, we have a boundary dispute of some type and a land registry would go some way to clearing some of that up.'

He said legal professionals who are involved in such cases might not feel so positive about it.

'I don't know about the advocates, they might feel like they are signing their own death warrant if they support it,' he said.

Martel Maides director Keith Enevoldsen also backed the idea.

'I think any central database of that information is helpful,' he said.