History of Barbados Land Registry
The Land Registry was initially located at the Marine House, Hastings in Christ Church. It was later relocated to Block B, The Garrison, St. Michael.
The Land Adjudication Unit was also located at Block B, The Garrison until it was relocated to the NHC Building “The Garden” Country Road in 2001/2002. The Land Registry moved from its location at Block B, The Garrison to Chelsea Road, off Bay Street, St. Michael. It was again relocated to its current location at the Ground Floor, Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.
See History Timeline
Initially, the Land Registration Act, Chapter 229 of the Laws of Barbados allowed for the registration of parcels located outside of declared registration districts. This was known as voluntary registration (where owners applied to bring the land under the Land Registration Act) or sporadic (where a legal transaction occurred, and the owner was required to apply to bring the land under the Land Registration Act). All documents, including documents relating to land titling were recorded at the Supreme Court Registry initially. When the Land Registration Act was passed in 1988, some of these recording services were transferred to the newly established Barbados Land Registry.
1988
Land Registration Act & Land (Adjudication of Rights and Interests) Act Passed
The main purpose of the Land Registry was to administer the registration system of land titling. However, provision was also made for the recording of deeds and instruments relating to land transactions which did not fall under the registration system. The Land (Adjudication of Rights and Interests) Act was also passed in 1988. This Act provided for the appointment of Commissioners of Titles and Registration Officers which led to the establishment of the Land Adjudication Unit.
1989
Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act Amended
The Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act was amended in 1989 to give the Registrar of Titles the power to transfer title to qualified tenants in circumstances where the landlord of the tenantry could not be found, refused to sell or did not appoint an attorney to act on his behalf.
1990 - 1992
Title Deeds Restoration Act Passed
The mandate of the Land Registry was further expanded by the passage of the Title Deeds Restoration Act in 1990, which was later renamed the Land (Title Deeds Restoration) Act in 1992. This Act gave the Registrar of Titles the power to restore documents which had been destroyed by natural disaster or fire.
2002
Repeal of Provisions for Voluntary / Sporadic Registrations
The provisions which allowed for voluntary or sporadic registrations were repealed by Parliament in 2002. However, there are currently a number of parcels situated outside of declared registration districts which are considered as registered under the Land Registration Act due to these provisions.
2011
Land (Title Proceedings) Act Passed
As a result of the revocation of the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1982 in 2008 and the passage of the Land (Title Proceedings) Act in 2011, the ability of the Registrar of Titles to restore title documents was expanded to include circumstances where these documents have been lost, misplaced, stolen, concealed or unreasonably withheld by another party.
Introduction of Technology
On its establishment, all of the Land Registry’s records were contained within large ledger books. In the past, officers of the Supreme Court Registry rewrote the recorded document into these ledger books. Later, the Land Registry would, on the recording of a document, which was usually in a type-written format, photocopy the document for its retention. These photocopied documents would be compiled in binders for easy access by the public. On the recording of these documents, the Land Registry staff would be required to enter the names of the parties involved in each transaction into Index, Counter and Receipt Books for all Deeds recorded. Separate Registers were created for Power of Attorney documents, Debentures, Company Charges, Judgments, National Housing Corporation Mortgages and Land Acquisitions.
On December 8 1997, the Land Registry went live with a computer programme whereby all documents received for recording were scanned and indexed into an electronic database. This entailed extracting relevant information including the parties to the transaction, the dates of execution and recording, the consideration involved in the transaction and the location of the property affected. This computer programme also produced printed receipts and a recording page for each document recorded.
The Land Registry entered a backfiling project with IBM in or around 2002/3. The objective of the first phase of this project was to extract data from the Land Registry’s records which were recorded between Jan 2, 1970 and Dec 5, 1997. This first phase was concluded within 18 months.
The second phase of the backfiling project was commenced in 2013/4 with the Land Registry extracting the information from the majority of the remaining records contained in the ledgers. These ledgers are now housed at the Archives Department for safekeeping. The Land Registry maintains these electronic records for easy access by legal clerks, lawyers and all members of the public.
Barbados Land Registry
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Barbados Land Registry
Warrens Office Complex
Warrens
St. Michael BB12001
Barbados
Opening Hours:
Mon – Fri: 8:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.