Land Administration and Registration
Course Code: GLRM525
Cr Hr. 2
Madda Walabu University
College of Social Science and
Humanities
Department of GIS and Land
Resource Mgt, 2016 E.C
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Course Description
The course introduces you to the basic concept,
components, functions, and the overall nature of land
administration as a discipline.
It also aimed at familiarizing you with the issues of
cadastre and land registration systems as key
instruments in building workable land administration
system.
It also tries to impart you with the overall benefits of
land information system (LIS), particularly GIS & RS, in
building effective, efficient, and sustainable land
administration systems.
An attempt is made to make you clear through the
concepts of property rights, land tenure, and tenure
security which are often at the heart of land
administration systems.
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Besides, basic concepts of lease, real property valuation
and formation measures.
Furthermore, matters of land reform and land policy;
their need and overall context in land administration
systems.
Finally, the diverse problems and the possible future
prospects to build/rebuild sustainable land
administration systems will be revisited from different
perspectives.
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Course Objectives
Examine the concept and socio-economic roles of land in
the society
Discuss a broad overview of the concept and the role of
land administration(LA)
Discuss the concept and principles of land information
systems (LIS)
Develop cadastre for your local area (sub-city or kebele)
Describe the concept of lease, types of lease and basic
characteristics of lease contracts
Evaluate the effectiveness of different countries’ land
reform and policy options
Assess the overall challenges and prospectus of land
administration and registration
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1. INTRODUCTION TO LAND ADMINISTRATION
The concept of land
In economics, land comprises all naturally occurring
resources whose supply is inherently fixed.
It is a factor of production besides, labor and capital.
To planners, land is an intangible space on which
development activities take place, contributing to its
use and value.
To farmers, it is the productivity of soil.
In the early stages of human settlement land was
undisputedly the primary source of wealth and power.
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Western definition: “Land is the surface of the earth,
the materials beneath, the air above and all things
fixed to the soil.”
It includes houses, buildings and other improvements to
the land & both rural and urban areas.
Land is often referred to as “real property” which, in
very basic terms, means property which is fixed and
immovable – as distinct from personal property which,
again in basic terms, means property (as in goods and
possessions) which is not fixed and can be moved.
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“land is the surface of the Earth, the materials beneath it, the air
above and all things fixed to the soil” (Dale and McLaughlin,
1988) 7
Land can be defined also as an abstract thing that manifest
as a set of rights to its use.
“Land” – tangible asset; “Rights” – intangible asset;
Example:
Land can be marketed even though the physical object can not
be moved!
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Land related rights....
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From a legal perspective, land may be defined as any
portion of the earth over which rights of ownership,
stewardship, or use may be exercised, including:
• the earth's surface;
• water covered lands and water resources;
• features and resources, natural and artificial, attached
to the earth;
• minerals and other resources beneath the earth's
surface;
• well-defined portions of the air space.
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Land is defined by its relation with institutions
Institution are the rules of the game in a society or,
more formally, are the humanly devised constraints
that shape human interaction.
The role of formal institutions regarding land and land
use:
1. Legal security
2. Controlling land use change
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Controls in land use
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Land is a valuable asset that:
It is an essential input for development;
Central to food security;
It may be the only household asset to be passed
down to future generations
Is an important means for HHs to fall back in times of
economic crisis;
Even it can be sold to ensure family survival;
It is a source of identity;
It is also an important source of power;
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Land is a delineable area of the earth's terrestrial
surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere
immediately above or below this surface including:
those of the near-surface climate,
the soil and terrain forms,
the surface hydrology (including shallow lakes, rivers,
marshes, and swamps),
the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated
groundwater reserve,
the plant and animal populations,
the human settlement pattern and physical results of
past and present human activity (terracing, water
storage or drainage structures, roads, buildings, etc.)."
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Land is the place of all shelter, in the city, the town the
village and the home,
It is the source materials for construction and
manufacture, of coal, gas and oil, of springs and
rivers and other essentials for life, everlasting,
immovable, it is the foundation of all human activity.
Houses and factories, forests and farms, rivers, roads
and railways, mines quarries and reservoirs are all
fashioned from the land.
It offers endless opportunities for development and
discovery.
It is the ultimate source of wealth.
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Land (including fixed improvements on land) is:
A key factor of production, contributing the value of its
services in all sectors of the economy;
A valuable asset, which constitutes between half and
three-quarters of national wealth in most countries;
A source of economic and political power;
A source of government revenue, especially at local
level;
Scarce and in fixed supply;
Can’t be increased or destroyed
Often the cause of conflict, in part because of its
scarcity, in part because of its symbolic value.
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Land as deity (divine being)
The source of all life and sustainer of all life
By extension, the foundation of fertility and the final
resting place of every person,
Therefore, the residence of ancestral sprit
A deity that possesses it self and owns everybody and
everything, and exercise certain control over people
who use it.
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Land as a community
the natural ecological community for which individuals
have special right and responsibilities
the group of individuals living in a particular area with
common interests associated with their individual and
collective good
concept of “home” or “Motherland” or “fatherland”
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Land as Capital:-
in classical economics, land is a durable, free gift of
nature, and capital is expendable past savings, the
stored-up production of people
sometimes land is regarded as capital itself because
of the ability to raise capital funds using land as
guarantee
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Land Administration: Definition
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE) defined land administration as the
processes of recording and disseminating
information about:-
the ownership,
value,
use of land and
its associated resources
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Land administration system – conceptualization of the
3Rs (rights, restrictions, and responsibilities) related to
people, policies and land.
Rights
Restrictions
Responsibilities
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It includes:
The determination of rights and other attributes
of the land;
The survey and description of existing rights to
land, their detailed documentation, and the
provision of relevant information in support of land
markets.
It is part of the overall process of land
management
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The potential contribution of an efficient land
administration system to national development
objectives include:
• To alleviate poverty and enhance economic
growth;
• By improving the security of land tenure and
efficiency of land markets;
• Through development of an efficient system of
land titling and administration;
• Based on clear and consistent policies and laws;
• Supported by an appropriate institutional
structure.
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Land Administration and National Development
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1.2 Historical Development of Land Administration
System
Official records of land ownership date even further to
3000 B.C., where in ancient Egypt rulers kept a Royal
Registry to record land ownership for taxation purposes.
Much later in Europe, land records were gathered for
purposes of taxation.
Napoleon I's establishment of a "cadastre" in France
encouraged the development of similar systems
throughout the continent.
Although early efforts to establish comprehensive land
records systems in Europe were mainly for purposes of
public taxation, there were also private needs for land
records to facilitate effective land transfers.
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It was the need for land records that eventually
provided the motivation for land registration systems.
Expansion of the field came from the realization that
holistic approaches to land management are essential
to:
Secure tenure,
Improve peace and order in a community, and
Deliver sustainable development
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LA, as an academic discipline, grew out of land surveying
for cadastral purpose just before around sixty years
The discipline now engages:
• Planners,
• Political Scientists,
• Sociologists,
• Human Geographers,
• Anthropologists,
• lawyers,
• land and resource managers
• economists, and many others.
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1.3 Scope of Land Administration
Modern land administration, its theories, and tools
need to be understood by a diverse audience,
including:
• Policy makers,
• Administrators,
• Students, and
• Professionals
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Three influences make LAS dynamic. The systems
are simultaneously:
At the center of sustainable development
issues;
The place where new technologies challenge
existing service delivery and institutional
operations;
Often involve a clash between national and
international trends
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Jon Lindsay (2002) saw land administration as
management of a system of land rights including a
broad range of subjects:
Procedures by which land rights are
allocated or recognized;
The definition and delimitation of boundaries
between parcels;
The recording of information about land
rights holders, and parcels;
Procedures governing transactions in land,
including sales, mortgages, leases, and
dispositions;
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The resolution of uncertainty or adjudications
of disputes concerning land rights and
boundaries;
Institutions and processes for the planning,
controlling, and monitoring of land use;
Land valuation and taxation procedures.
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1.4. Elements of Land Administration
Broadly speaking, the essential elements of
land administration include:
Land Tenure Systems;
Land Registration;
Land Valuation and Taxation;
Location Information Infrastructure
Land Management and Development Control, and
The Cadaster
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1.5 Principles of Land Administration
The basic principles of LAS include:
1. Provide the infrastructure for implementation of land
policies and land management strategies in support of
sustainable development.
• These infrastructures include:
Institutional arrangements,
A legal framework,
Processes,
Standards,
Land information management, and
Technologies required to allocation, land markets,
valuation, control of use, and development of interests in
land.
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2. Land Management Paradigm:
It provides a conceptual framework for
understanding and innovation in land
administration systems
3. People and Institutions:
• LAS are all about engagement of people within the
unique social and institutional fabric of each country.
• This encompasses:
Good governance,
Capacity building,
Institutional development,
Social interaction, and a focus on users, not
providers.
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4. Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities
• LAS form the basis for conceptualizing:
Rights,
Responsibilities, and
Restrictions (RRRs) related to policies, places,
and people.
• Rights are normally concerned with
ownership and tenure whereas restrictions
usually control use and activities on land.
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5. Cadaster
The cadaster is at the core of LAS that
provide spatial integrity, and unique
identification of every land parcel.
The cadaster should ideally include all land
in a jurisdiction: public, private, communal,
and open space.
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6. LAS Are Dynamic
LAS dynamism has four dimensions:
1. Continual evolution of people-land relation
2. Evolving ICT and globalization, and their effect on the
design and operation of LAS.
3. Dynamic nature of the information within LAS, such
as changes in ownership, valuation, land use, and
the land parcel size through subdivision
4. changes in the use of land information.
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7. Processes
• LAS involves a set of processes that manage change.
• The key processes concern:
Land transfer,
Mutation,
Creation, and distribution of interests, valuation,
and land development.
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8. Technology
• Technology offers:
Opportunities for improved efficiency of LAS and
spatial enablement in terms of land uses;
Improvements in the collection, storage,
management, and dissemination of land
information.
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9. Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)
Efficient and effective LAS that support sustainable
development require a SDI to operate.
SDI is the enabling platform that links people to
information.
SDI Permits the aggregation of land information from
the local to the national level.
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10. Measures for Success
A successful LAS is measured by its ability to manage
and administer efficiently, effectively, and at low
cost.
The success of LAS is not determined by the
complexity of legal frameworks or the sophistication
of technological solutions.
Success lies in adopting appropriate laws,
institutions, processes, and technologies designed
for the specific needs of the country or jurisdiction.
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1.6. Good Governance and Land Administration
Governance refers to the manner in which power is
exercised by governments in managing a country’s
social, economic, and spatial resources.
It simply means the process of decision making and
the processes by which decisions are implemented.
It is about policies, processes and institution by which
land property and natural resources are managed.
Good governance is a qualitative term or an ideal
that may be difficult to achieve.
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Characteristic of “Good Governance” include:
Sustainability: Social, economic, and environmental
needs must be balanced while being responsive to the
present and future needs of society.
Subsidiarity: Allocation of authority at the closest
appropriate level must be consistent with efficient and
cost-effective services.
Equity of access: Women and men must participate
as equals in all decision-making, priority-setting, and
resource allocation processes.
Efficiency: Public services and local economic
development must be financially sound and cost-
effective.
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Transparency and accountability: Information must
be freely available and directly accessible. Decisions
taken and their enforcement must follow rules and
regulations.
Civic engagement and citizenship: Citizens must be
empowered to participate effectively in decision-
making processes.
Security: All stakeholders must strive for prevention
of crime and disasters. Security also implies freedom
from persecution and forced evictions and provision
of land tenure security.
Of these, the standards of transparency, security,
equity, accountability, subsidiarity, and also
participation are especially important to sustainable
LAS.
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Characteristics of good governance (adopted from UNESCAP, 1999).
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Good Governance and Land Administration
From a land administration perspective, good
governance includes adopting favorable policies,
providing regulations and monitoring progress on land
Such policies outline how:-
• sustainable development can be achieved through better
access and distribution of land,
• security of tenure,
• favorable land use patterns,
• mechanisms for delivery and transfer of land,
• transparent procedures for land registry and cadaster
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Transparent regulations, which must be supported by
effective and efficient institutions, are a necessary tool
in order to achieve good governance.
Through public law, governments can interfere in the
relationship man – land, an institution usually
governed under private law.
Governments in the public interest can limit the rights
of private individuals and users of land by requiring
permits or licenses for certain activities such as land
use planning and development, building permits,
expropriation, subdivision etc. that have an impact on
individuals, land ownership and use rights.
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When implementing such regulations, reliable
knowledge of the specific citizen involved and their
relationship to a specific land parcel is very important.
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1.7 Benefits of Good Land Administration
An effective LAS:
Guarantees ownership and tenure security,
Ensures equitable and transparent land and
property taxation,
Provides security for credit, and
Supports an efficient land and property market
Contributes to sustainable land management, and
Sustainable land-use planning.
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Broadly speaking, contemporary LAS are very important in:
Managing How People Think About Land
Delivering sustainable development
Building economies, not just land markets
Achieving social goals
Managing crisis
Building modern cities
Delivering land information for governance and
sustainability
Encouraging the use of new technology
Reducing the divide between rich and poor nations
Delivering the Sustainable development goals
Providing a framework for delivery of basic service.
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More specifically, Good Land Administration
system helps:
Improved environment stewardship;
Improved security of tenure;
Facilitated land reform;
Improved land resource management;
Land disputes reduction;
Land market stimulation;
Increased revenue generation;
Credit security;
Improved land market monitoring;
Improved management of state lands;
Improved spatial land-use planning;
Improved service delivery;
Improved public safety;
Improved housing safety. 52
Disadvantages of “Poor” LAS
To the contrary, lack of robust and tested land
administration systems can result in:
Weak land markets;
Conflicts over ownership,
Land grabs, and social disharmony;
Reductions in yields,
diminished food security,
Negative impacts on the environment;
Lack of an essential policy tool that can assist
governments in creating a civil society with democratic
norms.
Reduced potential for economic growth as the large
amount of capital typically invested in real property is
never formalized and integrated into the financial
system.
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1.8 Land Administration and Sustainable
Development
Sustainable development - meeting the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Land administration gives enforceable (usually legal)
and institutional form to the rights and responsibilities
in relation to land ownership and land use.
The need to study the tensions between the social,
economic and environmental aspects of sustainable
development also highlights the need to examine the
interplay between the social, economic and
environmental roles played by land administration
systems. 54
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Land Administration and Economic Development
land administration has a role in economic development
is well established.
Argument lies in the extent and weight of its role.
Land registration is just one significant component of
cadaster, which is in turn a part of the formal system of
laws and institutions that should give efficient form to
the desires of society.
It is when these formal systems fail to reflect these
desires that economic development is stunted, and
poverty is a powerful deterrent to dialogue between the
economic and environmental aspects of sustainable
development.
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Feder and Nishio (1999) have outlined factors
needed to enhance economic development through
LAS
viability of land registration:
economic impact is derived from higher income or
services per unit of land and from an enhanced level of
land transactions, allowing higher value uses of land;
the main sources of higher income and improved
residential services are improved access to credit, higher
land-attached investments, greater use of variable inputs,
more efficient land markets;
if various regulations restrict or disallow the enforcement
of collateral, or if the legal and enforcement
administration for collateral contracts is too cumbersome
to be effective, land registration will not provide benefits
linked to the credit market. 57
Land Administration and Social Forces
All societies of whatever culture and political creed have
land systems woven of property rights
Land administration enables land to become the security
or commodity that generates further wealth, provided the
legal structures reflect and institutional structures facilitate
what society needs.
The degree of sophistication required of land
administration systems today extends far beyond land
registration.
The social contract in relation to rights and restrictions
over land is clearly an important underpinning force in land
administration.
Without basic community trust in the fundamental
principles of the laws and institutional framework to
represent their values and interests, there would be
escalated conflicts.
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They have noted that when a modern land registration
system replaces customary systems, there has been a
tendency towards land grabbing as smallholders and the
poor are tempted to sell to large landholders.
They recommend that in such cases it would be better if
titling were to be done systematically rather than
sporadically.
They conclude that in order to reduce the social impact of
land registration programs, land registries should be
administered on cost-effective and transparency
principles.
To achieve this they suggested that landholders should be
closely involved in the registration process, social issues
should be examined prior to starting the land registration
process, e.g. customary rights and women’s rights, and
there should be effective monitoring of developments on
the ground.
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Land Administration and Environmental Priorities
Land administration is concerned with the administration of
rights, restrictions and responsibilities over land.
This clearly overlaps with environmental concerns regarding
land use or resource use rights, because environmental
concerns can arise from the way people choose to exercise
their rights, restrictions and responsibilities over land.
Environmental issues result from the impact of human beings
on the land and the environment in which they live.
Land tenure rights help to define the rights to use/not use the
land and resources located within and upon it.
From a sustainable development perspective, such rights,
restrictions and responsibilities over land require expression
through appropriate legal and institutional infrastructures that
facilitate the dialogue between those competing rights, and in
essence this may be expressed as the conflict between
approaches to public and private property.
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SUSTAINABLE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
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Figure 1.1 Even a traditional village environment such as that in
Mozambique can benefit from effective land administration.
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