§ LORD GARDINERasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have plans for extending compulsory registration of title to land.
2036WA
THE LORD CHANCELLORIt is the policy of this Government to extend compulsory registration of title which reduces the cost of house purchase and produces a secure title to land, simpler to investigate and cheaper to transfer, as rapidly as possible throughout the country. Plans are being made to extend it by 1978 to areas in which there are 11 million people, and so increase the total coverage from 50 per cent. to 80 per cent. of the population. The system will be applied to the rest of the country as soon as possible thereafter. This expansion will be undertaken without the hiving off of the Land Registry which was proposed by the previous Administration in their Land Registry Bill.